Should I Tell Her?
by Socially Suicidal
Summary: While trying to understand the swirling sensation of human emotions, Gaara battles with Sakura's in-ignorable presence and Shukaku's lust for her. Full Summary Inside. Pre-Akatsuki raid. Undergoing major revisions. Revised Chapter Four posted! 8/27/12
1. 1: Human Emotions

_**Here's Chapter 1, freshly rewritten! This honestly took so long. Why did I write such long chapters? I have taken the (poorly placed) lyrics out of the chapter entirely, but the story is still loosely based off of the song **__**Should I Tell Her**__**? by Ric Roc. Remember, this story is rated T for a reason. I reserve the right to use whatever language I feel is appropriate.**_

Should Tell Her?

By Socially Suicidal

**Disclaimer:** I do _not_ own Naruto or the song Should I Tell Her. I own Arina and this story, respectively.

**Chapter One:** Human Emotions

Sabaku no Gaara, Godaime Kazekage of Sunagakure no Sato, heaved a heavy sigh as he shoved a calloused hand through unruly, thick crimson locks. Staring down at the papers before him through bleary eyes, the young leader wished for the umpteenth time just for the ability to focus on his mundane paperwork.

'_Damn it, too distracted. Sleep sounds like such a wonderful reprieve.'_

'**That it does, my boy. Provide me with the opportunity to ravage her better than you ever could,' **mocked the entirely too familiar voice as the Shukaku skulked its way into the forefront of his subconscious.

'_You truly are the most exasperating of the vermin,'_ Gaara shot back, wincing as the strain between his furrowed brow increased, causing the dull pains of a headache to begin throbbing through his skull.

The demon made a distinctive snorting noise, before replying with equal animosity, '**You're a choleric little human. Sensitive, are you? Perhaps if you give me what I want, you'll be cured of that.'**

The Kazekage leaned back in his chair, running his hand over his face as he accepted that he would get no work done at the moment with the boisterous voice of the tankui ringing through his mind, _'And what would that be, you overgrown raccoon?'_

'**Allow me to make this quite simple for your finite human mind to comprehend,' **chortled the demon mockingly, **'End this useless frustrating by simply approaching the female, apprehending her, and proceeding with the mating technique I explained the rabbits in the desert use.'**

Snarling, the Kazekage impatiently gave a retort of, _'Go do that to yourself, depraved demon,'_ before deciding to promptly ignore the distorted bijuu and sink into a light meditation.

The presence of such human emotions was quickly grating on his thin nerves. He survived nearly his entire life not possessing such pointless attributes, and he was hard-pressed not to allow them to commandeer the slim control he had reined over himself when he became Kazekage. The cause of such reactions, his own best friend's most precious person, was entirely oblivious to the situation she had caused and was quickly approaching his village on a mission, under the recommendation of the Fifth Hokage. In a display of the peace and bonds between their two villages, Lady Tsunade had offered to send her star pupil to work in Suna's hospital and to train a team of medics that were thought to possess much more potential than any of his own jounin could make proper use of with their instruction.

He could only fathom that Naruto was accompanying her for the sole reason that the opportunity to get him off of Tsunade's back was simply too sweet a thing for the older woman to pass up.

Shukaku, peeved that he had so easily been discarded from the attention of his eternally insolent host, saw it fit to punish said host for his inattentiveness with an interesting scene to display before Gaara from within his very own mind.

_**Fighting the nausea of suddenly being torn from one consciousness into another, Gaara stumbled along a stone path before regaining his balance and surveying his surroundings. He recognized the place and continued down the path toward a small bridge crossing a calm stream. Leaning against the stones, he sucked a deep breath through his nostrils and calmly waited for whatever fuckery the demented demon had concocted for **_**this **_**fantasy.**_

_**Black rimmed jade eyes, unruly crimson hair, and a blank expression stared back up at the Kazekage in the clear water. A leaf landed on the reflection of his forehead, ruining the smooth image and warping it suddenly. Her reflection then blinked up at him, complete with petal pink hair and verdant pink eyes.**_

_**She appeared at his side, casually leaning over the same stone side and glancing down at the stream with an easy smile. "Good evening, Kazekage-sama."**_

_**He responded to her warm greeting with a characteristic grunt, eyes remaining fixed on the mirrored image of the kunoichi that smiled up at him from the water.**_

_**"If I may ask, what is the Kazekage doing out here so late?" She pondered conversationally, leaning on her elbow to turn toward him.**_

_**As he made attempt to reply, he found his throat was as dry as the desert he reigned and managed to cough out an, entirely undignified, grunt of, "Nothing."**_

_**Pink eyebrows drew together as she regarded him with sudden concern. Placing a gloved hand on his arm, the light tone she had previously used disappeared entirely, 'Are you feeling alright, Kazekage-sama?"**_

_**His control expunged, the Kazekage whirled on her and grabbed her wrist in a sudden dizzy movement that elicited a shocked squeak from the, barely, shorter shinobi. Gaara crudely yanked her forward, teeth grinding together as his jaw set with painful intensity.**_

_**"Gaara," he rasped, his height allowing him to stare down at her through narrowed eyes. **_

_**She stuttered, shocked from his sudden change in demeanor, "Al-alright, Ka…Gaara…" Her head tilted as she regarded him with intelligent eyes, and he found gravity to gain sudden intensity as he failed in his fight against the urge and began to lean forward…**_

His head smacked against the desk in front of him as he leaned forward just slightly too much, resulting in an angry red mark in the center of his forehead. A giggle sounded from somewhere in the vicinity, but the exhausted jinchuuriki pardoned it to have been a figment of his currently muddled mind.

"My, my, a little jumpy today are we?" whispered a voice, inches behind his ear. Jumping slightly, the Kazekage whirled his chair around but found the area behind him vacant. He whipped is head back around, the force of which nearly causing him whiplash, as a _tsk_ing noise echoed, now from in front of his desk. His dangerously narrowed eyes fell upon the image of his smirking kunoichi friend.

Fixing the jounin with the most heated glare he could muster, Gaara pulled himself in closer to his desk and crossed his arms soundly over his chest as he surveyed her smug form.

Seishin no Arina, his friend of many years, with her long, straight black hair, reaching just about to her lower back, long bangs that angled around her face, the longest parts reaching just at her shoulder and the shortest at the beginning at her eyebrow, parted in the middle and piercing white eyes smirked back at him.

Arina was clad in black capri pants, a black three quarter sleeve shirt under a sleeveless zipped tan colored vest that reached her mid stomach, with a black belt hanging lazily around her waist with a kunai and shuriken pouch hanging from it, and black boots reaching almost to the ends of her pants. The only thing symbolizing her strong bond with the Village Hidden in the Sand was the fingerless gloves she wore with the hourglass symbol on it.

One of his more elite jounin, Arina possessed a special ability that complimented her dexterous fighting skills and background in the medical field. Her strong mind ability enabled her to, based off of their chakra signatures, read and control the minds of others, in addition to granting her the ability contact demons and spirits sealed within people.

A rare strength within her clan, Arina's mastery of such abilities was known from the day of her birth, which inevitably led to the Fourth Kazekage's plan to utilize her in his plan to create the ultimate weapon from his very own son. Being three months older than her red-haired companion, Arina had already been betrothed to spend the rest of her waking days controlling and warping Gaara to do the will of the village when he was born.

The sickly smug expression adorning her pale face alerted the Kazekage to the fact that she had clearly seen his fantasy and heard his inner debacle with the sand demon, and was apparently very amused by it. Allowing a heavy exhale to leave his body, Gaara permitted gravity to take hold of his head as it fell forward to smash against his desk with an echoing _thud._

"Now, now, Raccoon-chan, you will lose countless brain cells doing that," chirped the kunoichi as she waltzed over to the window sill and plopped down on it unceremoniously.

"Don't call me that," he muttered darkly, shifting some papers nonchalantly on his desk while he attempted to ignore her presence.

Her expression dropped into a feigned serious scowl as bowed her head deeply, deepening her voice in a monotone with her reply, "Yes, almighty Kazekage."

The thought, _'Sarcastic dimwit…'_ flitted through his mind momentarily, resulting in an unladylike snort to depart from the kunoichi.

"Sand brat," Arina retorted. Seeing his glare intensify, she shrugged coolly. "Well," she began, tone suspiciously casual, "It has not become an everyday occurrence that I'm fortunate enough to see the _almighty Kage_ of ours so…" she feigned to be pondering, tapping her finger to her chin as if looking for the right word, "frustrated."

Gaara chose not to reply, the truth of this statement making him weary of any defense he could conjure up would just lead him further down this dangerous path. He was aware that he probably couldn't make up any plausible defense, anyway, due to the complete chaotic confusion the entire situation left him in. Why did his fan-girls repulse him so, while this seemingly plain girl caught and held his attention without even seeking it?

'**You are ignorant as always, boy. The kunoichi cannot be compared to those harlots,'** the Shukaku spoke up, languidly stretching its massive muscles in a deep corner of Gaara's mind.

'_No vulgar comment? Full of surprises, for once, rodent,'_ Gaara shot back, not appreciating being called ignorant by the bijuu.

Acting as if Gaara had not replied, the demon digressed as he continued speaking, **'Although, I do suppose she makes the utmost delicious noises, if you can evoke them effectively****.'**

The Kazekage visibly tensed in reaction to the demon's eternally uncouth words, hand clasping tightly around the idle pen in his grasp. Arina smirked before closing her eyes, allowing the mental conversation to continue on uninterrupted.

'**Perhaps you will now think more seriously before implying I was anything but what I am,'** Shukaku chortled, **'She's refreshing, a most acceptable mate for us, I have decided.'**

'_Us?'_ Gaara retorted, scowling.

Shukaku scoffed, and then replied in the most sagely manner a bloodthirsty demon as he could manage, **'Only naturally is it that whomever it is that becomes your mate becomes mine as well****.**'

The Kazekage's nose wrinkled in disgust, shaking his head at the one-track mind of the bijuu, _'Truly, that is all you consider.'_

'**No, boy, you are aware that I think of a diverse number of things.'**

Gaara only offered a challenging snort in response. Shukaku began pacing.

'**Well, there is murder, murder is always a pleasing thought. And blood, a most interesting subject. Carnage, of course... Gore, perhaps gore and carnage. Our future mate caught in the middle of the desert, unblemished skin overcome with sand from m…'**

Growling lowly, the pen in his grasp snapped immediately, _'Enough.'_

Finding the present moment a suitable moment to intervene, Arina spoke up in a friendly, conversational tone that caused Gaara to snap his eyes in her direction. He stared at her unmoving form with narrowed eyes, but she chirped on, unaffected, **'Why, hello there, Shukaku.'**

'**Arina, it has been lifetimes.****'**Shukaku replied casually, taking a seat from his pacing and inclining his massive head toward the voice of the kunoichi.

'_That was not unintentional,'_ quipped Gaara, as he snorted ungracefully and scowled.

'**It has come to my attention,'** Arina continued, effectively ignoring the Kazekage within the recesses of his own conscious, **'That our little cub has run into some difficulties, my old friend.'**

'**It would seem so****,'**agreed the demon, followed by the shrug of his sandy shoulders, **'If it were up to me, I would explain to her the situation and take her as my mate.'**

Arina gave a short chuckle, stifling quickly to maintain the serious subject matter, **'Well, I agree with the first proposition. The second, however, I believe can wait.'**

Snarling, the Kazekage slammed his hands onto his desk, standing up violently, "I can still hear you two assholes."

'**Oh, of course, boy. No need to become so distressed.'**

Arina gave a bark of laughter, eyes flying open as she returned the stare of the Kazekage, **'Right! Gaara! Hello, darling. Feeling pushy today?'**

'_Leave my mind, immediately.'_

"Alright, alright, I'm out. Refrain from starting another world war in your tantrum," Arina replied calmly, casually brushing nonexistent dust from her physical form.

Grunting, Gaara returned to his seat, glare never leaving the sand kunoichi. Her invasion of his mind never failed to set him off. Being a rather private individual, for obvious reasons, the Kazekage was irked endlessly when Arina dropped in on his conversations with the bijuu, often times teasing them both, or providing a moderator (it was these times he was almost grateful for her uncanny ability to drop in mid-conversation).

"What does your insolence want?" Asked the exhausted Kazekage, expression falling into its normal indifference, save for the downward curl of his lips.

Concluded that he looked much, much older while he frowned, Arina feigned a hurt expression and glided over to his desk. Leaning disrespectfully on the corner, she replied, "Is it illegal for me to drop in and see how my little brother was doing?"

He resisted the sudden urge to roll his eyes; she would never let him live down those three months she was older than him by.

Gaara returned with a nasty growl, instead. "Well," Arina continued in a professional tone, standing tall and placing her hands on her hips, "I've decided to take mercy on your poor soul, and lend you some aid."

Concluding that she looked like a child who was planning to steal some extra cookies, Gaara braced himself for whatever stupidity she was talking about. He decided that he very much preferred the corporate Arina, who refused to tolerate ignorance and was taciturn and harsh, but quick to deliver a sharp verbal lashing if the need presented itself.

"Excuse me? Whatever could cause me to require assistance from you?" Gaara replied cautiously, hairless brow lifting as he considered her.

She merely grunted, shifting her weight from foot to foot, before replying curtly, "Why, your problem of course."

"What _problem_?" Perhaps the demon has described him adequately when he referred to him as choleric, the Kazekage could feel the vein in his forehead obscured by his thick red mane begin to throb obnoxiously.

Arina sighed, all patience suddenly rushing out of her body as she nearly yelled at him, "With your _girl_ problem you imbecile. You know, the one with pink hair and a left hook that could make a boulder sing?"

"And what, exactly, would make you decide I possess such a problem?" Inquired the Kazekage heatedly, voice low and malicious, "And if it was so, who are you to believe I would appreciate help from you?" He had raised his voice and immediately regretted it. Gaara knew very well Arina was conscious of his lie, but the way she suddenly snapped her mouth closed and swallowed violently made him aware that, despite being one of the most malicious shinobi in his village, Arina did possess human qualities, such as feelings, that he could have easily hurt with his carelessness. The irrational part of his mind asked him why he cared, but the rational side reminded him that as Kazekage, and as her friend, it was his responsibility to be aware of his appearance to others and adjust it accordingly.

"Gaara, you do have a problem, and it is causing you to be unable to do your job. And," she murmured softly, eyes imploring him to see her reason;  
"I'm going to help you regardless of if you desire my help or not, face it. You have too much on your mind and you cannot handle it alone."

Gaara nodded solemnly, unable to deny how correct she was, seeing as it was entirely pointless, "I still don't understand how you intend to help."

"Don't sell yourself short, _Kazekage-sama,_" Arina purred, smirk set perfectly back in place as she teased him, "It would be impossible for her not to notice your progression from blood thirsty brat to esteemed Kage of this village, hell, it's impossible for anyone to be unaware of it. Don't underestimate your accomplishments. Now, when is Naruto supposed to be arriving?"

The skin of his brow lifted once more as he considered her question. Finally, he replied cautiously, "Why does that matter?"

"Well…" mumbled the sand kunoichi, immediately avoiding his piercing gaze and scratching the back of her neck coyly.

Gaara stood up once more, accusing stare daring her to meet his eyes, "What did you do?" he demanded.

Arina put her hands up immediately in her defense, backing away from him a few feet, as if the appendages could stop him if he decided to toss her out of his office window, "Settle down, settle down. I have done nothing."

Sinking back into his chair, but not removing the shackles of his stare from her, he replied slowly, "Anytime now."

"Where are they staying?" Inquired the sand shinobi, although fully aware of the arrangements for the two Konoha nin to reside in the Kazekage's residency for the duration of their stay.

"Not sure, to be honest. I believe Temari…" Blinking, the Kazekage immediately recognized his painful stupidity as he flew from his office chair, around his desk and passed a smirking Arina, to the door which he yanked open and barked to his secretary, "Send Temari into my office, immediately."

Momentarily stunned, the small receptionist sprung up from his seat with a shaky reply of, "Right away, Kazekage-sama!"

Sighing, Gaara closed his office door and allowed his back to lean against it. He pinned Arina with his calculating gaze, fully cognizant of her awareness that what he so deeply hoped was not going to happen, would indeed happen. "Revenge, is this revenge for the four month mission?"

"No, of course not!" Chirped the jounin, hands clasping together in front of her, "This is my revenge for you and Kankuro putting beetle juice in my shampoo when I was staying with you guys," she finished, voice sickly sweet and practically dripping with sugary menace.

He shrugged nonchalantly, muttering something that vaguely resembled, "We thought it was Temari's," as he stepped around her once more to take a seat at his desk.

Temari then barged in, casting him a swift glare and a playful, "Oh that's nice, thanks a lot." Teal eyes then suddenly fell to rest on Arina, and the wind mistress squealed uncharacteristically and entrapped the slighter girl into a deathly embrace. "Oh, Arina-chan, you're back! **I've missed you**! That moron should never have sent you on that mission for so long!" She pulled away from the girl, grasping her shoulders and shaking her roughly, "Do you have _any idea_ what being with them alone is like? It's nightmarish!" She laughed without humor, pulling the asphyxiated kunoichi back in to continue slowly squeezing the life out of her.

"You'll … find out... j-just how h-horrible … b-being alone with… them… is fo-forever if-f you… k-kill me!" Arina choked, turning a light shade of purple that would have been a lovely shade on a flower that bloomed early in the spring time.

Temari blinked, releasing her, "Woops," she shrugged, scratching the back of her neck sheepishly. Turning her attention back to her little brother, her tone became professional once more. "What is it you wanted, little brother?"

"Where are Naruto and Haruno-san staying?" He asked bluntly, ignoring the pointless scene that they had just previously been displaying.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, waving her hand casually, "With us of course!" She failed to notice the sudden rush of blood leaving the face of the stone still Kazekage, "Arina and Sakura-chan can share a room," she glanced at Arina who nodded in agreement, "Since you have that extra bed."

'**I'm looking forward to a very interesting stay, right Shukaku****?'** Arina whispered suavely, waggling her eyebrows at the Shukaku within Gaara's mind.

Arina could sense the grin, revealing rows of sharpened canines, that broke out over the bijuu's furry face as he replied, '**Yes, the girl staying with**** us shall be eventful if I have any say in it.'**

'**Well, that, and Gaara's room is right down the hall from mine,' **replied the mind reader casually, smirking as she could predict the reaction of the sand beast.

'**Leave it to my host to obscure that detail,'** chortled the demon.

'**This is going to be too much fun,'** pride and excitement dripped from her every word.

"Get the fuck out of my mind, **right now,**" Gaara roared, sand shooting from out of the gourd in the corner of the room to spill over the floor and coat it like a blanket of snow.

Arina smirked, not even bothering to feign the innocent look that her words suggested, "Oh, dear, you could hear that?"

Gaara growled, "It's my fucking mind you crazy wench."

Temari chuckled, trapping the girl within her arms and resuming to squeeze all life from her yet again, "Oh, how I've missed you so!"

"We better get one hell of a greeting, if that's the one she gets!" Laughed a voice from the hallway, right outside of his door that was increasing in volume rapidly as the speaker moved closer to the room.

'_**They're here…'**_

_**Go forth and Review.**_


	2. 2: Lonely Moon and Radiant Sun

_**Here's Chapter 2, hot off the presses of rewriting. These long chapters kill me, honestly. There are some major changes in this one. Enjoy my blood, sweat, and tears my dears!**_

Should Tell Her?

By Socially Suicidal

**Disclaimer:** I do _not_ own Naruto or the song Should I Tell Her. I own Arina and this story, respectively.

**Chapter Two:** Lonely Moon and Radiant Sun

_"We better get one hell of a greeting, if that's the one she gets!" Laughed a voice from the hallway, right outside of his door that was increasing in volume rapidly as the speaker moved closer to the room._

_'__**They're here…'**_

Gaara's already pale complexion dulled to a near translucent hue as the voice of the rambunctious Leaf shinobi assaulted his senses.

Naruto and Sakura soon appeared through the office door, Naruto, with that infamous foxy grin on his face, while Sakura was smiling sweetly. Sakura had barely nodded to Gaara in greeting with a small bow of respect before she was attacked by the eldest dirty blonde kunoichi.

"Sakura!" Temari squealed and trapped her pink-haired friend in a death hug.

"Temari, I… appreciate the love, unfortunately… it's being ruined by… my lungs caving in," Sakura wheezed, her peachy features washing over with a sickly purple as oxygen was denied to her by the fan wielding kunoichi. Temari released the girl and rubbed the back of her neck while the healthy glow slowly returned to the Leaf medic, "Forgive me."

Sakura just laughed, rubbing the back of her neck. Gaara just stared in wonderment at the small female, charcoal rimmed eyes bright as he processed such a natural human interaction before him.

The dazed Kazekage was promptly assaulted by a loud ball of orange that clung to his neck in a bone crushing hug as the loudmouth himself exclaimed, "Gaara! I haven't seen you in ages!"

Gaara's widened verdant eyes narrowed with vehemence as a growl cut from his throat, "Off." His command was simple in substance but deep in the menace that dripped from his voice and curled around Naruto's spine until he slowly complied.

"E-heh" Naruto laughed nervously as he withdrew from the choleric Kazekage and leaned back into his signature pose with his arms crossed behind his head. Just as suddenly as he had pounced, Naruto's face scrunched up as he leaned forward, "Say! Did you get taller Gaara?"

Gaara's gaze remained impassive as he stared silently back at the tan shinobi blankly. Arina chuckled as she came to Naruto's rescue, "Yeah he did, I've finally gotten him eating better and its showing."

Grunting, Naruto's speculative gaze didn't waver as he continued to thoroughly inspect the unmoving redhead, "Are you okay, Gaara? You're sweating and you look pretty pale, I mean, even for you. Sakura?"

Sakura turned to Naruto upon hearing her name, pausing her conversation with Temari, and landed intelligent emerald eyes onto the pasty looking form of Gaara, whom was having an internal struggle deciding on the most efficient and clean way to maim Naruto, as well as where he could leave the body when he was done.

"Yeah, you're right, he looks a little pale." Sakura replied thoughtfully, falling immediately into her role as the concerned medic, "Do you feel alright?"

Gaara swallowed from under his thick robes, glazed eyes unfocused but directed at the girl whose concern grew with each passing second of his silence. The bijuu was barking madly within his mind and breathing felt like a hardship that was simply not worth the effort as the white washed walls of his office constricted around him rapidly.

He was only half aware of his own movement as he took a step back, away from the pinkheaded girl who had just taken a few steps toward him. She immediately stopped her approach as he backed up. Pink eyebrows knitted together in confusion as she assessed his shallow breathing and glazed expression. "Lord Gaara…" she began, only to be cut off by Arina.

The white eyed girl gave an energetic laugh, throwing a casual arm over Gaara's shoulders and administering him a hearty slap on the back. He lurched forward, but seemed to be aware enough to catch himself and throw her a withering glare, "Don't worry about him, he just skipped his lunch today. He gets a little grouchy when he's hungry.

Sakura didn't look entirely convinced but the unwavering confidence Arina was exuding made the explanation impossible to question and the medic turned back to Temari to continue their nearly forgotten conversation.

Arina just let out a breath of relief, shooting Gaara an empathetic look that clearly said, "We are going to talk about this later, young man." Replying with a look almost as dry as the desert he reined, Gaara turned on his heel and stalked back to his desk, falling into his chair almost exhaustedly.

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes at her brother's antisocial theatrics, Temari turned toward the two visiting shinobi with a suggestion, "How about Arina and I take you guys for a tour and show you where you'll be staying?"

"But, I have work to do at the hospital and at the school." Sakura said quietly and looked toward the Kazekage, who seemed to be studying the papers on his desk to intently to be paying any attention.

"You can start tomorrow, but before you leave I need to talk to you about your obligations," Gaara suddenly replied monotonously, looking up from the sprawl of papers adorning his desk. As the people in his office continued to stare at him, he sighed. "Your presences aren't required."

There was a sound of realization and a mutter of indignation from the unneeded trio as they turned and left the office, closing the door behind them. Approaching his desk as she had done similarly countless times at her own Kage's desk when receiving missions, Sakura straightened her back and folded her hands behind her back formally. "Lord Kazekage?" she prompted uniformly.

Gaara's arms folded before him on his desk, his expression remaining unwaveringly emotionless despite the pasty complexion that remained harshly splashed across his face, "First, please do not feel the need to address me as Kazekage. It is unnecessary and reminds me of my father."

Blinking in confusion, Sakura slowly replied, "Alright… Lord Gaara."

"Tomorrow," he continued promptly, "you will be at the hospital at seven sharp and heal the serious injuries that cannot wait for your assistance." Shukaku cooed lowly, but was ignored as Gaara forced himself to exude a blank confidence that he was trying to convince himself he truly felt, "Then, you can go home, but here is your normal schedule."

He handed her a piece of paper, "From seven to noon, you work at the hospital, and from one to four you take your class at the school." Sakura nodded as she studied the paper, clearly trying to quickly memorize its contents.

Gaara nodded back, "Okay, you can go."

"Sounds good, Lord Gaara, I'll see you tomorrow." She turned to leave but was stopped by his voice, "One more thing." Quickly she spun around to see him standing now behind his desk, leaning on his hands as his long, maroon dusted strands fell into his burning verdant eyes.

Blinking, Sakura noted duly that Naruto was indeed right about the Kazekage's steady growth spurt. Inner Sakura chuckled, rearing her recessed head and offering low comments about the Sand nin's fuller form underneath his formal robes.

"I would prefer if you addressed me as plainly as possible, please drop the formal title before my name."

Nodding promptly in acceptance and offering a squeak of, "Of course, Gaara," Sakura turned and slipped out of the door gracefully. Sighing, Gaara sank back into his seat and attempted to at least make a dent in the paperwork he had been staring blankly at for the passed hours.

* * *

The three kunoichi and Naruto strolled down the bustling streets of Suna, Arina and Temari periodically pointing out landmarks or shops and restaurants they frequented. Sakura nodded and took everything in appreciatively, excited at the chance to learn about the different peoples and their customs. Naruto, on the other hand, seemed to be growing bored with the tour.

"Say, where's the best ramen stand around here?"

Temari cocked a dusty blond brow while Arina covered her snickers behind a gloved hand. Sakura just shook her head exasperatedly, "Naruto, you really do have a one track mind. The boisterous jinchuuriki just shrugged in reply.

"I hate to break it to you, but there is no ramen here. The best you'll get is maybe some instant stuff from the market," Arina replied as they turned the corner to a bustling street full of the scents and tastes of freshly prepared food in the many surrounding food stands, "If you're hungry though, a lot of good places are along this street."

It was then the three noticed Naruto was no longer keeping pace with them and they turned to see him standing rigidly among the crowd, mouth open and eyes wide with fury and shock. "No ramen stands? What has he done to this place? **Gaaaaaaaaaaara**!" He disappeared in a puff of smoke with a roar and intentions of maiming a certain stoic Kage.

The three exchanged looks, but seemed to come to the mutual agreement that Naruto's obsession with ramen rivaled that of Lee's with youth and one day, perhaps not soon, that an intervention would be necessary to save the poor blonde's soul.

"So," Sakura began, "Where to now?"

Temari scratched her chin and then launched a decisive finger in the air as she came to a conclusion, "Shopping?" She suggested with a grin before making a beeline to a nearby fabric stand. Sakura looked shocked by the sudden change in demeanor, unused to outbursts by the normally professional and cutting fan wielder.

Arina just laughed, being the first to recover, "We want to get you some clothes from Suna to bring back to Konoha with you. It's a real culture shock with the different styles here."

"I brought more than enough clothes with me," a confused Sakura replied.

"Nothing you brought will be like the stuff you can get here," Arina grabbed her hand and pulled her along as she ran. "Come on, Temari probably just noticed we aren't with her and will come hunting us down soon enough."

Sakura sighed as she was dragged, _'Well, I guess if I want to fit in, I should embrace all things Suna has to offer…'_

* * *

Gaara strolled contentedly down the dimly lit streets, but if one was to say he strolled, he would have denied it with vehemence. The Kazekage never strolled. Anywhere. He was a dignified leader, and such men had no time to do anything with contentment, never mind strolling. No matter how nicely the sand dusted evening breeze floated around his robes and lifted his deep red hair about his head. He would also deny that the reason he had chosen to take a leisurely walk home from the office was to procrastinate his inevitable arrival at his home, a home that as of very recently was also the abode to two newly acquired foreign nin and the additional stress that had come with them.

The silence that had settled around his village made Gaara very glad of his earlier decision to pin Kankuro with the task of escorting the rampant Naruto around Suna.

The young Kazekage inhaled the crisp scent of the sweet night air. This was his favorite time of day. When he was a kid, the only thing he had to look forward to was the night. At night, he was never alone yet there was no one to call him a monster or reject him. He had the whole sky to look up to. The moon, the stars, they were all there with him. He always was amazed with the stars. They shined all the time. During the darkest of times, when the world seemed hopeless, the stars shined as some beacon of hope… even for the hopeless. They came back night after night, no matter how many times they lay witness to the terrible crimes against humanity he committed in hopes of verifying his own existence. They never needed verification. They just were.

The moon also infatuated him. The moon, the center of all night time life, was actually a bleak wasteland… compared to the sun's vibrant rays. It was a planet, not even a planet, a rock doomed to orbit about other planets but remain in its isolation, that stayed inaccessible and untouched by any warmth, billions upon billions of miles away from any other star.

While lost in his musings, Gaara's feet kicked into automatic gear and guided his way home. He didn't notice he had reached his destination until he walked into the wall next to the door… face first.

"Shit!" he muttered darkly, while rubbing his now sore nose and reaching for the door knob.

As he opened the door, his sore and now throbbing nose met a very pleasant smell. '_There is no way in the seven rings of hell that smell is Temari's cooking.'_

The walls and ceilings of the mansion were creamy beige, the tile floors remaining bare of any rugs that would insulate and keep the oppressive heat trapped in the house. The mansion consisted of, surprisingly, only three floors, including the attic that no one dared to enter, even the Kazekage himself.

As one walked into the high ceiling mansion, there was a small hallway that at the right side, after a short time, opened up to the kitchen and to the left was the very wide staircase. Next to the kitchen opened up the living room, which connected, to the right, the sun room. There was a door in the sun room that led into the courtyard. The courtyard consisted of a training ground and a small green house that housed a bunch of dead plants withering away, much thanks to Temari.

After hooking his overcoat onto a hook near the door, Gaara continued silently into his home. Kankuro was seated lazily on the couch in the living room, with the remote at hand. The living room consisted of a red sofa with two burgundy chairs on the sides, a small tan coffee table, and a nice sized TV sitting on a chest in front of a huge window that showed the courtyard. Naruto was seated on one of the chairs, watching TV along with the lazy cat eared Sand nin.

Gaara resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the sight of one of Suna's prestigious shinobi and turned his attention to the source of the delightful aroma that was curling around him and teasing his senses, prompting a rumble from deep within his stomach.

In the kitchen stood the three kunoichi, Sakura stirring a pot on the stove, Arina chopping vegetables while keeping an eye on Temari to make sure the Sand Kunoichi didn't accidentally poison or blow anything up as she sprinkled some spices into a small pot also on the stove.

Temari's cooking was well known in the Sabaku mansion as nothing short of mutant. The number one motto in the Kazekage mansion, when Arina wasn't around anyhow as the medic nin was pretty adequate with the preparation of edible food, was "Eat your food or be eaten by it." Temari's concoctions often would growl and bite at any unsuspecting victim to come across its wrath…

In the kitchen, there was a marble island with the sink, and cabinets under it on the inner side. Behind the island was a marble counter that housed the oven, stove, and more cabinets above it. The black refrigerator was at the very right and at the left was another marble counter that acted as some sort of closer from the kitchen and the living room. To the right was a short hall that led to a dining room with a rather large window overlooking the front of the mansion. The dining room was furnished with a dining table and various fake plants one would see in the desert sitting in the corner or on a table or in a vase.

"Gaara, you're home," Arina acknowledged, looking up from the vegetables she was chopping. Sakura also looked up from her pot, and Godaime Hokage's apprentice smiled with a small, warm greeting of her own. Temari just ignored her younger brother's presence and tried to help Arina, only to be swatted by a glove clad hand. Arina threw the vegetables into Sakura's pot and walked around the counter to the opening on his left. Just before reaching Gaara, Arina turned around sharply and pointed to Temari and hissed "Touch _nothing_," She gave Sakura a "Watch her" look, which Sakura nodded to with a short giggle, and turned back to Gaara.

"Gaara, can I talk to you?" Arina asked, motioning to the entrance hall.

'_Do I have a choice?'_ Gaara said in his monotone in his mind.

'**Come to think of it… no.'** Gaara grunted indignantly as the white-eyed sand Kunoichi dragged him into the hall. "So how are you going to handle this?"

The eyebrow-less Kazekage simply raised an invisible, aforementioned non-existent eyebrow and replied, "To what are you referring?"

White eyes rolled at him, causing his left eye to give the slightest of twitches in irritation, "C'mon, Gaara, it's so obvious it's painful, especially with the way you choked up in your office earlier. You need some lessons in humanity and we've found just the person to administer them."

"What in Satan's rings are you talking about," scoffed the Kazekage rhetorically, pinning his right hand nin with one of the most scolding glares she had witnessed on him other than on the battlefield.

Arina just sighed heavily, only to be interrupted by Temari's booming voice from the kitchen, "Dinner is ready!"

Pinning with him with yet another look that promised a continuation of their discussion at a later time, Arina sauntered into the dining room, only to see the table was already set beautifully. There was a red table cloth placed on the wood with pearl white plates, matching pearl colored silver wear, clear glasses with a pearl ring on the top and red napkins folded neatly in front of all five places. The puzzled black haired sand kunoichi walked back into the kitchen, asking, "Who set the dining room table?"

"Sakura did," Temari replied with a smirk, "She went digging around the cabinets and found some decent looking silverware."

"Hn," Arina grunted as she pulled out some serving utensils, "I wonder why we never saw them before."

"They were probably out of reach because of all the bipolar freaks in this house." Gaara muttered in a tone he thought to be inaudible, but clearly was as the comment earned him three respective glares from Temari, Kankuro, and Arina and a soft, muffled giggle. His gaze left the floor to pinpoint the origin of the giggle and landed on the visiting medic, standing behind the counter with a hand covering her lips. Gaara studied the mirth in her emerald eyes intently.

It was light that he saw, something he could only liken to the light emitted from the sun at high noon. It was oppressive, almost too much for him to take as it assaulted his weary senses as if he had spent days in the harsh barren desert. His head cocked as he continued staring, considering that perhaps it wasn't heat that pooled in those orbs but just illumination, light and airy. Refreshing and replenishing.

He existed isolated, solely without any such replenishment or light to feast on, without any love, and such was his damnation – a fate he had been readily able to accept in the earlier years of his life, but now such destiny proved to frighten him to the very core, shaking everything he had worked for and causing him to question his very own existence. She would never shine her light upon him, it was foolish to dream such things.

The dark musings bouncing around his mind were cut to an abrupt and screeching halt as Naruto materialized before him, prodding and poking him while whining, "Let's go eaaaat I'm hungry!"

Gaara grunted, smacking Naruto's hand dismissively as he breezed past him and into the dining room, where an impressive array of food greeted his suddenly reignited hunger.

* * *

Gaara sighed for the umpteenth time and entered his room.

He opened his door to reveal his barely used canopy bed with burgundy and maroon bed spread and pillows adorning it casually pushed up against the far right wall. To the left and side was his drawers were he kept all his casual clothes and where his wardrobe and closet were where his Kazekage robes and training robes were. To the right was a wide window where he undoubtedly made his many escapes during the night to the roof and such, and on both sides of that window were book selves housing many books that always infatuated him, be them books about history to shinobi arts.

The Kazekage happily discarded the entirety of his formal robes and changed into his normal tan and brown ones. He walked up to his window and peered out into the extremely dull light. The stars were just appearing and the moon's light was cascading down upon his village. The Kazekage took a random book off his shelf and sat down on his bed, crossing his legs. He read for about an hour and a half about, ironically, medical jutsu. He read half book, which all together was about 300 pages, and returned it to its place on his shelf.

Gaara decided now was a good time to go out on the roof and admire the night, as he had nothing better to do as his paper work he had brought home could wait – after all, he had all the time he needed, not sleeping and all.

The tankui vessel jumped onto the window sill in a crouching position, and then leaped up on the roof by pushing chakra into his feet and legs. He sighed very softly as he looked down to what he could see of his village from his position on the roof.

Looking up at the sky, his thoughts once again turned to the pink-haired, Konoha medic-nin. He again turned his thoughts to her metaphoric resemblance to the sun and his to the moon. The stars seemed to be everyone else, those who still avoided him and his ever present loneliness. So deep in his new revelation of thoughts, he failed to notice the presence of someone else until it was right next to him and talking.

"Beautiful night, isn't it?" Sakura asked, breathing in the crisp, desert night air.

Gaara side glanced over to her, berating himself for being so lost within his own mind he had not noticed her presence before. Such lapses of guard would have proved to be the death of him in his earlier years and was unbefitting of a Kage. He took in the sight of her face. The moon's light shown down on her pale face, illuminating her already delicate features. Her emerald eyes seemed to be a shade lighter, almost matching his sea like jade. The girl's unique colored hair brushed lightly against her shoulders and the nape of her neck in the light breeze of the desert air. The small content smile on her lips brightened her expression slightly, making him wonder what she was so content about, considering her position, being on the roof in the middle of the night with a demon.

"Yeah," he grunted in agreement with a curt nod.

'**Well that was just about the most intelligent thing you've ever said.'** Shukaku cooed sarcastically, swishing his mighty tail about him with a snort.

On the other hand, Sakura thought oppositely. '_That was more than I was expecting. I figured he'd just say 'Hn''_

'**Yeah, he's the talkative one.'**Inner Sakura replied sarcastically.

"What are you doing up this time of night? Are you not tired from today?" He asked, surprisingly breaking the short silence.

Sakura gave a little shrug, "After training with Tsunade I have to have good stamina, or else I would not have survived."

Gaara nodded slightly, but remained silent otherwise. He was fighting with himself. To talk and embarrass himself or to stay silent and let the silence become awkward?

Thankfully, the kunoichi seemed to have a knack for being in the company of individuals like the laconic Kazekage and started up her own conversation, "The night is so peaceful here in Suna. There are so many more stars than Konoha. And the moon… wow… it's just gorgeous." She looked at him with a warm smile. Gaara's face was passive, but peaceful, and his jade eyes were staring out into the sky. His long strands of red hair fell onto his forehead, contrasting against his pale, almost ivory skin, which, she noticed, had recovered in its hue from the earlier unhealthiness with which it had seemed to be painted, and almost into his eyes, but the infamous kanji scar on his head was still showing, a proud display of his past faults and current flaws. His arms were crossed over his chest in the familiar position, and his look bordered one of the powerful shinobi the Kazekage was, and the calm, complex person Gaara was.

"Do you ever think… the moon is lonely?" His question was blunt; she blinked several times before finding a response in the swirling mass of thoughts in her mind.

Gaara was just too shocked at himself for actually voicing that question to notice how carefully she was considering his question.

"No," her reply woke him from his shock, and gained his attention. "The moon… is surrounded by the stars, it's never lonely."

"It may be but the stars avoid it… they are all so far away, it can't be that beautiful. And what of the sun? It so clearly outshines the moon, making it so dark, isolated, ominous." He still couldn't figure out why he was voicing his thoughts, but found himself waiting anxiously for her response.

"Hm, on the contrary, I think anyway, the sun gives the moon light. It doesn't make it dark; it gives the moon its beauty. But the moon naturally has its own beauty, too." Sakura responded, adding the last bit as a sort of afterthought, and continued staring at her incredulously. The completely contradictory idea had never occurred to him, sending his thoughts swirling into a frenzy as his mind attempted to hammer out thoroughly and understand the implications behind her words.

"But, the sun gives everything life… it gives the moon its light, too… How would the moon be beautiful? It has no purpose," Gaara responded quietly, glassy eyes now fixed on a point far off into the barren desert surrounding the village walls.

"True, but the moon's beauty is more, I guess, unique because it doesn't have its own light." Sakura replied, her gaze settled to his face. She studied it for any emotion… emotion that would be the gateway to his thoughts and would help her understand the changed, brooding man that stood next to her.

"Also," she added quickly as the thought struck her, "the moon does depend on the sun but it gives light to what the sun can't. The sun's light isn't there in the darkest of times, the moon is. For me, the moon and stars give hope and faith when there isn't any left."

Gaara found himself to be pleasantly surprised with the similarity between his own notion of hope and her statement about it.

"You don't think the moon could represent darkness? Or perhaps even be sinister?" Gaara loathed how weakly his voice pushed from between his lips, cursing his weakness.

"No, not at all! I'll admit, though, when I think of the moon, I think of mysteries, of enigmas I'll never solve and that were never meant to be solved." Sakura said, looking more intently at his face now.

Gaara actually met her gaze, despite all his previous evasive actions, and looked at her curiously. Never did someone talk to him as much as she did, well, in the topic they were discussing. Sure people talk to him all the time, discussions with numerous people were part of the job description… but Sakura was telling him her thoughts. And, shockingly, he was telling her his, as well. His thoughts were only confided in those closest to him. Temari, Naruto, and, when he wasn't being a moron, Kankuro only knew his thoughts. Now he was confiding, even if the topic was just about the moon and in truth she was doing most of the talking, his thoughts to her and they were having a discussion about it. Right then and there, in the middle of the night on his roof, none the less.

Sakura must have taken his stare as one of disbelief or skepticism because she said in finality, "The moon is a symbol of hope and strength, it commands the sea and it defines the night. It really is beautiful. Think about it," then, she turned to face him fully, "Good night." The Konoha kunoichi whispered, briefly placing her hand on his shoulder, before walking off in the opposite direction and jumping down on the window sill of her and Arina's room on the other side of the house, in the front.

The, now stunned, Kazekage remained on the roof, mouth slightly opened, unmoving. Her touch was brief, but it showed something. Perhaps maybe the light hidden in her eyes that surfaced when she was amused was not oppressive, but instead a more comforting warmth that wasn't so bad once it travelled down the length of him and settled evenly in his bones.

Tenderness, acceptance, friendship.

Gaara now knew, by that simple gesture, she was completely comfortable with him. She didn't fear him, who had tried to kill her and both her closet friends those years ago.

The Kazekage sighed.

'_Tomorrow is going to be one hell of a day…'_He thought and then jumped back into the window of his room. Sitting on the bed in his mediating position, the last stray thought to cross his mind before his mind focused on the haven that was meditation, _'Friendship…'_

_**Go forth and Review.**_


	3. 3: Merely the Beginning

_**Not even revised, basically entirely rewritten… I've decided to take everything concerning Sakura's keki-genki out completely on the basis of… well, I have no clue as to where I was going with it. –sweatdrop- **_

Should Tell Her?

By Socially Suicidal

**Disclaimer:** I do _not_ own Naruto or the song Should I Tell Her. I own Arina and this story, respectively.

**Chapter Three:** Merely the Beginning

Rays from the sun were filtered through the window in a particular bedroom within the Kazekage abode. The winds outside were peaceful, the heat mild, and the streets below were bustling in a not rowdy way – a fit beginning to a day. The white lace drapes fluttered about in the breeze that carried through the open window and everything was quiet. Despite being only half conscious, Sakura smiled contentedly and sighed, burrowing further into her cozy pillow with intentions for getting more sleep.

Unfortunately, the other occupant of said peaceful room had drastically differing ideas of what this lovely desert morning should consist of.

"Sa – ku – ra!" A terribly grating voice screeched while the owner of said wail shook her violently, attempting to rouse her from her haven of soft comforters and blissful slumber, "Get up!"

After a few moments of nearly groaning in response to the horrific assault, the Konoha medic could no longer take the abuse and shot from her nest, tackling the petite black haired kunoichi to the ground, the two of them going down in a blur of pink and white, "As you can see, I am awake thank you very much," grunted the pink haired youth through her clenched teeth as Arina grabbed a fistful of her petal hair.

Arina shot her a cheeky grin from where she had been pinned by inhuman strength onto the floor, chirping simply, "I'm glad to see that!" Sakura resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she released her, slowly pushing herself from the floor, "You know, Saku my love, the early bird does indeed get the worm," the white eyed girl informed sagely as she too rose to her feet in her typical graceful manner.

"The last thing I want is a damn worm," grumbled the angry leaf kunoichi as she ruggedly dragged her fingers through her impossibly messy pink hair, "And I am far from a damn bird." Arina just gave an eye twinkling smile at the grouchy female. _Today is the day_, she mused merrily, excited to finally have something worth her attention in her usually quiet village of Suna. One could get frighteningly bored with only the typical (as if they were typical in any sense!) odd goings on in the home of the renowned Sand Siblings.

"Well I'm going to get some breakfast. You better get ready for your shift at the hospital." The sand kunoichi announced sanguinely, tapping her pale wrist, as she strolled out of the room.

Sakura's eyes then widened with realization, _'I have to be in Gaara's office by seven!'_ Hurriedly glancing at the clock, she allowed air to again enter her lungs as she saw the time read only six o'clock and she suppressed a sigh of relief. The petal head rummaged through her belongings until she found a towel, toiletries, and some clean clothes before heading slightly down the hallway into the bathroom. Humming as she turned on the stream of hot water, she stripped quickly and stepped into the shower

Just the tiniest bit further down the hallway, Gaara also exited his room, donning his formal Kazekage robes. He stopped short as his senses were assaulted with her scent, eyes wide and nostrils flared.

'**Fresh in there air, boy…'** the exotic aroma teased him, the hot water and steam intensifying the usual scent that clung to her form. Gaara found himself having a hard time placing it exactly but he reckoned it was a mix of at least lavender, vanilla, and some sort of apricot. **'Just passed this door…'**

'_Not even the slightest chance in hell.' _

Gaara checked the watch under his white sleeve and suppressed a rather haughty smirk, seeing the time as half passed six and deciding that the bathing kunoichi did have a bit of time before she would be late to their meeting. Turning on his heel, the Kazekage walked down the stairs and into the kitchen intent on having some cereal – or perhaps he'd check the fruit drawer for any apricots.

The bathroom quickly filled with steam as Sakura hopped out of the shower, quickly winding her white towel around her body and combing out her hair. After she was dry, she slipped into an outfit they had purchased the day before. She liked it because it wasn't a far stretch from what she usually wore yet it was, mainly in the fabric, far more fit for the desert climate. The shirt was maroon, sleeveless, with a small collar much like her normal blouse but had been adorned with black petals sewn up from the right side of the hem that blew up her midriff and went as far as just under the swell of her breasts. The sequin like petals had a bit of a sparkle in the right light, giving the shirt a bit of a more interesting glint. Under the maroon tank top she wore a black fishnet shirt, the sleeves of which just reaching her elbows. The skirt she wore, with black shorts under, was very much like her usual one but was black in color.

Other than that, Sakura opted to wear her usual attire – knee high boots, gloves, and her hitai-ate proudly in her hair.

At 6:45 Gaara smirked to himself as he arrived at his office in a flurry of sand. He felt rather smug this particular morning, an unusually competitive streak pushing haughtiness through his veins as he rounded his desk and sat gracefully into his chair. Having doubts that the pink haired medic would arrive at the agreed time, the Kazekage calmly picked up the paper at the top of his daily pile and began carefully skimming through it.

Sakura flew into her shared bedroom and thanked whatever deity was above that she had packed her bag the night before. Tossing her small medic bag over her shoulder she darted down the hall and jumped, literally, down the wide staircase. Landing gracefully and soundlessly on her feet, she checked her watch- 6:47, on the money. The kunoichi ran into the kitchen and grabbed an apple out of the refrigerator and rinsed it off quickly.

The pink haired girl spun around at the sound of a snicker. "Running a bit late?" Kankurou teased, standing against the counter of the other side of the kitchen, obviously amused. Sakura took a half a second to glare at the purple face painted nin. She sighed, her shoulders losing some tension with her admission, muttering a sheepish, "A bit."

Sakura would be the first to admit that being the student of the Copy Cat Ninja, Hatake Kakashi, certainly had its ups and downs. Sure he was always late, making up excuses even Naruto knew were false, and he always had his face in that porno book of his, but there was one thing about him she was grateful for. He did have a fierce knack for always appearing out of nowhere. Sure, Sakura always found that to be infuriating in her years training under him but now, she thanked any deity above her for that, admittedly strange, part of his persona. Being able to shushin to anywhere she wanted at any time certainly had its many advantages.

In a swirl of her signature cherry blossoms, the girl was gone from the kitchen, leaving a very slack jawed Kankurou in her wake. The only person he had ever seen do anything like _that_ with a substance other than smoke was…

The Kazekage sat in, although not terribly apparent, shock as the pink haired kunoichi stood in front of him, beaming a brilliant smile.

Sakura gave a huge inward sigh as she stood, beaming, in front of a seemingly stunned, if only a little, Kazekage. Eyes shifting over to a clock on the wall, her smile widened. 6:51, her little interlude with Kankuro had cost her about a minute and a half, and then she had to calm the nearly hyperventilating secretary after she shushined right in front of her desk enough to get her to call Gaara, which took roughly one minute. She had been standing in front of Gaara now for about twenty nine seconds, if her mental calculations were correct, which they always were.

Still smiling, but warmer and more casual like, Sakura said, "Good morning, Gaara, I apologize if I'm a bit earlier than expected."

Of course, the pink haired kunoichi couldn't have known about the (ridiculous) mental challenge Gaara had about her being late, but her innocent statement was a low blow. He found himself wishing for the normalcy of self to cringe. She was more than he'd expected, and he was sure he hadn't even had a taste of the full dosage. It seemed he was cursed to keep thinking about her, wondering about her but never understanding.

Shukaku thundered in laughter, the howl of it ringing in Gaara's head.

"Hn," was his monosyllabic response, not looking up from whatever paper he had been reading when she arrived.

'_Jeez, he sounds just like Sasuke,' _Sakura mused blandly to her Inner.

'**The bastard? Maybe.'**

"So, I should head over to the hospital until…" she trailed off awkwardly, a hand rubbing the back of her neck in a very Naruto manner – half of her forgetting what he told her, the other half wanting him to confirm it.

"Until all serious injuries are healed, then you are free to do what you want," Gaara finished for her evenly, seemingly unaffected by her weariness as she fidgeted before him.

"Right, then tomorrow I go to the hospital at seven and leave at noon, then from one to four I'm at the medic academy." Sakura nodded thoughtfully, remembering now what he had instructed the day before.

"Correct," Gaara nodded and allowed himself to lift his eyes to her face, though her gaze was fixed out of his window as she waited patiently for dismissal. The Kazekage allowed the idea of visiting the hospital later on in the day to evaluate her progress as Shukaku very nonchalantly suggested it.

'**To witness her capability****,'** the demon murmured reasonably.

'_She is apprentice of Godaime Hokage, Best Medic Nin in the world. Some say she has surpassed her mentor. I think we can surmise what she is capable of.' _Gaara responded flatly, his gaze not wandering from her fair visage and distant eyes.

Jade eyes fell back onto the paper he was working on, "Dismissed," he heard the door open and her steps slowly fade away as she walked down the hall.

* * *

Sakura sighed as she left the hot, dry air and entered the cooler air of Suna's hospital. The walls were tan with blue molding. Some plants were placed in pots in the waiting area, as well as some customary blue hospital waiting chairs. Pictures of what she guessed great medical nin and doctors were framed here and there on the walls. It was a regular hospital, a hospital one could find in most places, with a couple differences, mostly adaptations to the punishing desert.

Walking up to the receptionist's office, Sakura watched nurses and doctors alike running up and down the already hectic hallways. She wondered just how many people she would be healing today.

"Good morning, I am the Konoha medic nin, Haruno Sakura," she greeted the receptionist politely, who looked up through her thickly rimmed glasses and smiled in return.

"Ah, the Hokage's apprentice," Sakura smiled as her chest swelled with pride to be immediately recognized as such, "We are so grateful for your help. One of our doctors will take you to the medic that will be accompanying you while you work here. By the way, I'm Uki," the girl named Uki nodded to her, extending her hand as she introduced herself.

"Thank you, Miss Uki" Sakura beamed as she shook hands with the receptionist, whom she had already decided she liked very well. She hoped beyond hope that she would get along with the other people she would encounter working in Suna just as well. Being friendly with the staff would certainly make her work more enjoyable, plus Tsunadae had mentioned future missions in Suna if this one worked out, so it would be nice to have friends in the hospital.

An elderly woman of about 55 wearing a doctor's lab coat with gray hair clipped up in the back of her head approached the pink haired medic, disapproval shining in gray eyes, "You the medic?"

"I am," Sakura confirmed evenly, despite the obvious resentment the other woman obviously held for her, "Nice to meet you…" she trailed off, waiting for the older woman to introduce herself.

"Miss Haruno, this is Dr. Hitimata, she will be taking you to our medic." The receptionist cut in quickly. "Doctor, this is Haruno Sakura, the medic from Konoha, the _Fifth Hokage's_ apprentice, you know, the _Greatest Medic in the world_…" Uki hinted that Sakura deserved the woman's respect, oh so very subtly.

"I'm glad to be of service." Sakura just smiled, _really_ hoping to get onto this woman's good side.

Dr. Hitimata scoffed, "We'll see about _that_." She turned on her heel and stalked down the hallway.

Inner Sakura grunted in irritation at the treatment, **'Cha, I bet this grouchy old biddie doesn't know her ass from her elbow. We'll show her!'**

Uki shot her an apologetic look as she sat back down behind her desk, to which Sakura nodded to before jogging after the nasty older woman. As the pink haired medic walked down the hall, she couldn't help but notice all the varying looks she received from doctors and nurses (barely seeing any medics, she noted). Some nurses, the younger ones as they seemed, shot her envious looks – for what, she did not know. The older nurses gave her more respectful looks, nodding to her politely in greeting. The male doctors, however, all ages with few exceptions, mostly leered at her. Inner Sakura scoffed again, ignoring them, her invented head held high.

Inside the hospital room the gray haired doctor finally lead her to was a bed with at least four different beeping machines surrounding it. A girl with chocolaty hair reaching her shoulder blades and bangs swept out of her eyes stood in front of the bed, assessing the patient. The tall, thin girl had on a navy tank top and loose khaki capris. The hip pouch hanging loosely from her side indicated to Sakura that she was a fellow kunoichi, most likely the medic nin she would be working with. The taller girl turned, smiling at the two – well, smiling at Sakura, she seemed to ignore the presence of the irritable doctor by her side. Sakura didn't blame her.

The sand medic had liquid citrine eyes and a fair, slightly tanned face. Sakura found that she was very pretty. "Good morning, you must be the medic from leaf. It's great to meet you, I'm Havai Tori and I'll be working with you," Tori said as she extended a friendly hand to Sakura.

"Yes I am, it's lovely to meet you. I'm Haruno Sakura, please call me Sakura," the leaf medic grinned and shook the girl's hand as she nodded.

Tori's gaze hardened as she released Sakura's hand and turned toward the doctor accompanying her, "Thank you, Dr. Hitimata, you may return to your work, now." Scowling, the doctor turned and lurked out of the room, "I cannot stand that woman," Tori sighed, shaking her head with a hand exhaustedly running through her brunette locks.

Sakura blanched comically, "I can see why." Tori grinned and nodded in what seemed to be approval.

"I'm already looking forward to working with you." "Likewise," Sakura agreed and turned to the Suna shinobi lying on the hospital bed. A mass under white sheets, the only visible part of the nin was his head. He had long dirty blond hair which probably reached past his ears, if she had to guess, that was splayed out around his head and face. His chalky pale face was twisted into a grimace of pain and his eyes were tightly closed.

Attached to him was an IV, a blood transfusion device that was fastened to his limp and pale left arm, a heart monitor, an oxygen tube, and a brain stimulator. The grease board on the wall read, "Chitimata Yukon".

Moving over to the machines, going into medic mode, Sakura analyzed the data displayed, "What's wrong with him?" she questioned, still examining the machines' statistics.

The other medic sighed, walking over to the other side of the Sunian Nin, "That's just the problem. We don't know. All of his wounds have either been healed or treated, but he still hasn't woken up from this comatose-like state. His poison test is negative, but he can still seemingly feel some sort of pain. But from what…" Tori trailed off, frustration ringing her voice.

"Hm…" Sakura wondered thoughtfully, "Symptoms?" She examined him more, using her careful eye, or sense, to see his chakra levels. The Konoha Kunoichi had an idea of what was wrong, but she needed to be sure before she could act on her hunch.

Tori picked up a clip board from the table next to the Suna Nin, "Hm… Chitimata, 'Symptoms: fluctuating chakra levels, hemorrhage of various veins (mainly within left arm), and pneumonia symptoms of shaking chills and 103-105 degree fever.'

"He was also showing signs of an early brain tumor. The cerebrospinal fluid around his brain seemed to have some sort of parasite in it, but that went away after about three days after his admission in the hospital." Tori put down the clipboard and shook her head, "He really got hit with a crap load of things, and he isn't even our _worst_. He is only our second in that rank."

Sakura nodded, definitely knowing what plagued this shinobi. Though, she was disturbed by the idea of his case only being second in degree of severity.

Taking a deep breath the Godaime Hokage's apprentice stood over Yukon, "Mr. Chitimata, I'm afraid this might hurt just a bit." Closing her eyes, her hands hovered over his chest and green chakra flamed her hands.

"_Seru doku tekishutsu no jutsu,"_Sakura muttered, moving one hand to his temple and the other to his left arm. Her chakra flared and a sizzling sound was heard as a small incision was made on Yukon's left arm and a light green liquid twirled out of it, rising to Sakura's hand, and then was enclosed in an orb of chakra.

Focusing her emerald eyes up to her chakra infused hand at Yukon's temple, she pressed her hand to his temple and his chalky skin turned back to its natural tan hue.

Stepping away, the Konoha medic wiped at a thin film of perspiration that had formed along her brow. The kunoichi looked up at her new comrade to see her absolutely puzzled. The pink haired girl just smiled.

"Ano… What in hell was that? What was wrong with him, how-did-what..?!" The sand kunoichi rushed to the patients side, sputtering in confusion as he wide eyed gaze jumped from Sakura to the sleeping shinobi.

"After hearing his symptoms it was obvious. Fluctuating chakra levels, hemorrhage, and pneumonia symptoms and the parasite in the cerebrospinal fluid, they are the exact symptoms of an infection I had read about a few years ago while studying under shishou," Sakura explained calmly as she did a once over of the man's vitals.

"But wait," Tori interrupted; her face hard with concentration, "the parasite was gone three days after…"

"Precisely, what was used was a special jutsu, medical nin-jutsu actually, that injects a special poison into the cells. The injection point was his left arm and it was done a bit sloppily, which was the cause of the hemorrhage. His white blood cells were dying, so his chakra was trying to make up for the damage, but the poison was also eating at his chakra, causing the fluctuation. The chills and fever were classic side-affects.

It took a good bit of energy but I should be recovering rapidly. Anyway, next patient?"

"Right, let's go."

Walking out of Yukon's room, Sakura, clipboard at hand, read up on the next patient. Tori suddenly stopped short, and Sakura, behind her, bumped into her back. "What's wrong?" She craned her head over the halted kunoichi's shoulder, trying to see what she was gazing at.

"L-lord Kazekage..?" The brown haired medic sputtered with shock. Sakura's emerald eyes locked with sea foam green from over her shoulder.

Sure enough, there was the redheaded Kazekage, arms crossed over his chest in the customary pose. He was leaning against the wall quite nonchalantly on the other side of the hallway.

Gaara, through Shukaku, had heard and seen, using his Third Eye technique to see what Sakura was up to in the patient's room. Due to lack of color and quality in his vision from the position hidden behind Tori, he couldn't see or understand much, but his interest was more than thoroughly spiked.

Sakura, though confused, smiled in pleasant greeting. Tori seemed to get over her shock and quickly bowed, greeting him formally, "Good morning, Lord Kazekage."

Gaara nodded in response, and Tori stood up straight, "Hello, Miss Hayai." His black rimmed eyes switched over to Sakura, who had stepped to the side of Tori.

Sakura gave a small bow as well, "Hello again, Lord Gaara," she murmured respectfully, sure that in public he would preferred to be referred to with the respect a shinobi of his position deserved, "What brings you to the hospital?"

Tori's jaw slackened as she gaped at the girl that had just addressed her Kage by his name.

"Sakura," the Kazekage nodded in greeting, catching the attention of the present sand kunoichi as she snapped her gaze over to his unmoving form, "Checking up on some things."

'**Lie.'**

'_Not completely.'_

'**I hardly believe that stalking her counts as checking up on some things'.**

Sakura gave him a teasing grin, "All work no play makes for a very dull Kage." The joke nearly knocked the wind straight out of the mortified sand nin at her side. Tori's first impression of Sakura was admiration for a strong, intelligent medical ninja. She had not anticipated her new companion to have been completely insane with a wish for a death of the utmost gore and agony at the hands of an irate Kazekage. Just _who_ in their right mind teases Sabaku no Gaara?

"All play no work makes one like Kankurou." Gaara shrugged indifferently. All sense of reality was lost for Tori. Did the former serial killer, powerful, block of ice, Kazekage of Suna, vessel of Shukaku, just _crack_ _a_ _joke_… moreover, a _funny_ joke?

Sakura snickered, thoroughly enjoying the laid-back aura surrounding him at the time. He was nice to be with when he was calm, certainly pleasant company. If only Gaara would be like this in public the some people that did wouldn't still fear him.

That thought reminded her of the night before with Gaara out on the roof. Under the desert moon and stars, much more vibrant in Suna than in Konoha, he looked… almost angelic. Of course, angelic in a demonic sense, as strange, twisted, and unintelligible she knew that was. And the way he seemed when he talked about the moon, at the time she didn't notice, but looking back he seemed almost hesitant. But of course he was Sabaku no Gaara, he never would hesitate about anything…

The intellectual pink haired girl wanted to know more about the unique way her redhead jinchuuriki friend thought. Talking to him was the only way to learn more, but the problem was she'd have to figure out a way to talk to him in an appropriate time and place or she'd have to wait for him to come and talk to her. She didn't know the probability of the latter happening too often.

"Miss Haruno, Tori! Please," a young nurse panted as she came to a stop from her sprint down the hallway in front of the trio, offering a quick bow to the present Kazekage, "Please! Come now, we need your help immediately!"

Sakura's eyes hardened and she nodded stiffly, turning back to the redheaded Kazekage. He spoke before she could dismiss herself.

"Of course, go. See you, Sakura," Gaara murmured, offering a nod to Tori and a soft "Miss Hayai" before deftly turning and departing without another word exchanged.

Sakura and her medic comrade went quickly to see a woman in labor that needed a C-Section but had already lost too much blood to go through with the operation.

Healing the woman and successfully delivering a healthy baby took about an hour and a half and it was about noon when everything was finished and cleaned up. After that, the day seemed to be a whirl of rushing and healing as the resident staff seemed to realize the usefulness of the Konoha kunoichi that had fallen into their lap. Sakura's last coherent thought of anything that had naught to do with injuries and healing was before she was called to heal a ninja with five broken ribs and a concussion promptly after she walked out of the delivery room.

After the shinobi had been healed to the best of her ability and his broken bones wrapped up snuggly, newborn baby had a fractured shoulder that needed to be carefully healed by Sakura, considering the child's fragileness. She took her time and the child was released to its very grateful mother.

Sakura then healed a kunoichi with a kunai lodged dangerously close to her heart and a fractured leg. The kunoichi had the kunai in her chest for six hours and the cut was infected so Sakura had to heal that too, as well as mend the cut itself.

A man with a blood clot right near his lung needed Sakura's attention and she carefully drained and sutured. He was about fifty and had a back problem which the pink haired medic mended by soothing his back muscles with a special technique she had learned from Shizune in the beginning if her medic days.

The Fifth Hokage's apprentice extracted many poisons, but the worst was one that infected the chakra flow of a young shinobi, almost stopping it, before Sakura stormed into his room and pushed the fussing medics aside after quickly verifying their uselessness with her newly acquired partner. An hour and a substantial amount of her chakra later, the roseate haired kunoichi had managed to extract the poison and reassure the panicked shinobi, who had before then not realized how close to death he had truly been. He was grateful, admiration dancing in his eyes as Sakura was swept out of the room promptly after he was saved.

These, plus about twelve more patients, each with at least two problems each, were all the people she healed in the day. Sakura, as always, enjoyed helping the people and their thanks when she was done. At first, every person she came into contact with whom wasn't already made aware of her status was wary of having such a feeble looking, petal headed girl seeing to their medical needs. However, in a very Naruto-like manner (perhaps she was spending a tad bit too much time with the exuberant shinobi), she had managed to change their opinions drastically.

By the time all emergencies - with the one exception of the worst patient whom had been basically deemed dead due to his lack of response to any and all given treatment - were healed, it was about seven o'clock at dusk.

Tori whooshed a sharp exhale as the doors of the operating room swung shut behind her, "I'm exhausted, personally. And almost out of chakra. You must be too, how do you feel?"

The shorter, paler female glanced at her comrade as they walked fluidly down one hallway of the hospital, "Yeah, it was a long day, but I'm alright," the darker haired kunoichi scoffed and Sakura chuckled, "Hey! Being Lady Tsunade's apprentice can do that to a person."

"I guess it would. Well, since you have to have lost some chakra, we'll handle our worst case tomorrow." She silenced whatever protest the determined haired girl would have had with a wave of her hand, "Our worst case will require you and all of your chakra at the ready, he'll make it another night no problem. He's stable as for now."

Sakura sighed, "Fine, well I guess I'll head home now, I am a bit tired."

'**You fucking liar, we're more than a **_**bit **_**tired.'** Inner Sakura accused, chiming in for the first time today since her crude comment in Gaara's office.

'_I know but I still want to help all I can. I am looking forward to some rest, though,'_ Sakura replied, stifling a yawn that must have been brought on by her thoughts.

Tori nodded, about to retreat behind the reception desk to write some memos and gather her things, but paused and instead asked, "By the way, have you figured out where you're staying? You're of course welcome with me if you have yet to acquire accommodations," the kunoichi offered politely.

The shorter female smiled and thanked her warmly, turning down her offer, "I'm staying with some friends not too far from the hospital."

"Oh? Are they shinobi?" Tori replied, shuffling behind the desk and rifling through some papers.

Sakura nodded dutifully, "Yep. I'm staying with the Sand Sib…" she began, and then realized that the sand kunoichi wouldn't be familiar with the name the Kazekage's team was given during her first chuunin exams, "The Kazekage and his siblings. See you tomorrow!"

She then waved and left, heading out into the dry coolness of the desert twilight.

Tori stared after her, her jaw unhinged for the umpteenth time since she met the interesting medic kunoichi of Konoha, _'She's staying with…the Kazekage…? And Temari…? …and Kankuro…? That was why Lord Kazekage…__**Whoa**__. This really is a big deal.'_

* * *

Sakura sighed wistfully as she finally arrived at the front door of the mansion, wondering where Naruto had been all day as she pushed the door open. Brushing her sandy boots off on the rug, she continued into the hallway and was greeted by a delectable smell wafting from the kitchen.

The resident black haired kunoichi stood precariously next to the counter, balancing several plates full of food in her slight arms. Sakura rushed to relieve of her some of the dishes, receiving a sheepish look from the kunoichi who had taken up more than she could carry. "Thanks, we're eating in the living room tonight." Nodding, the leaf medic dutifully continued into the living room to set the plates on the coffee table.

Arina moved to the bottom of the stairs, being more careful now in balancing the food in her arms, as she called up the stairs, "Gaara, Kankuro, dinner! Get yourselves down here."

Kankuro was the first to respond to the call, although he stopped midway down the stairs sporting a comfortable mesh sleeping shirt and his black pants instead of his usual attire, attempting to get a better look around. "Who cooked?" He asked the smaller female at the bottom of the stairs hesitantly.

Temari sighed and called from the kitchen, "I got take out!"

"No cooking? Are you sure?" Kankurou asked suspiciously, receiving a reassuring nod from the mind-hopping kunoichi in front of him. The puppet master grinned, continuing down the stairs and into the living room, from which he called to his brother, "Its safe, Gaara!"

Sakura giggled from her spot on the couch as the baritone sand shinobi sauntered into the room and fell into his chair. She studied his paint-free face and his unusually hood-free brunette spikes. There certainly were good genetics among the Sabaku siblings.

The medic stood and picked up a plate and utensils before turning to the broad shouldered nin, stifling a smirk at his close eyed expression before waving the still steaming dinner under his nose. The shinobi's dark eyes flew open and met Sakura's amused ones. Shooting her a sheepish grin that forced a blush to creep up her neck, Kankuro gratefully took the dish offered to him as Gaara silently moved into the living room.

Sakura stepped back just as Gaara descended gracefully and nonchalantly down the stairs. "Needed the warning?" she joked, not looking at him as she picked her own plate off of the table and settled into the couch once more, legs tucked under her gracefully.

The Kazekage followed in tandem and too grabbed his food from the table, opting to lean against the wall beside his much more outgoing brother, "In this house, you will learn quickly, that it is rarely safe," The medic laughed, a reward with which Gaara was more than happy for his somewhat forced reply to her quip.

Temari shot him a glare as she and Arina entered the room, picking up the remaining plates and settling variously around the room, talking idly while they ate.

After dinner in the living room, Temari and Arina insisted upon cleaning; receiving objections only from Sakura. Arina suggested, or ordered, that they all stay downstairs and watch a movie- for some rare quality "bonding" time, as she put it. Kankuro just shrugged lazily, commenting that he didn't mind sticking around for a few more hours before continuing his day-long nap on his day off. Sakura of course agreed, which left Gaara to just glower at Arina for suggesting it. She happily ignored him.

The sand kunoichi of the household entered the kitchen, now empty plates in hand. They began giving the dishes a wash, Arina looking over her shoulder to where Kankuro had sprawled his long tan body over his chair as he talked to Sakura, folded up neatly on the couch still. Sakura seemed to be laughing at something the puppet master had said, shaking her head, to which Kankuro was grinning widely. The black haired kunoichi duly noted Gaara's stiff posture against the wall, not participating in the conversation but seemingly keen on the interaction between his brother and the medic.

Temari followed her line of vision and sighed, "Sometimes I wish he could be more like Kankuro."

Grinning, Arina shut off the tap and leaned her hip against the counter as she dried her hands, "Yeah, but then he wouldn't be him."

The eldest of the Sand Siblings agreed whole heartedly.

_**Go Forth and Review**_


	4. 4: The Reaping

_**I was struck with a thought while I rewrote this… Are there even movies in the Naruto universe? **_

_**Spoilers for the movie "The Reaping"**_

Should Tell Her?

By Socially Suicidal

**Disclaimer:** I do _not_ own Naruto or the song Should I Tell Her. I own Arina and this story, respectively.

**Chapter Four:** The Reaping

Naruto bounded into the living room just as Arina and Temari had finished cleaning up, "Arina! I got the movie. Hey, you really freaked me out, showing up in my mind like that."

Sakura was the only one that looked confused, but Kankuro cut in before she voiced it, "Naruto, where were you? I thought I lost you…" the puppet master trailed off, earning glowers from both of his siblings. He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. Hey, it wasn't like he _elected_ to play tour guide to the blonde jinchuuriki. It was his day off, damn it.

The whiskered shinobi shrugged as he tossed something to the white-eyed female who stood leaned against the couch behind Sakura. "I went off on my own, you weren't much help figuring this place out, ya know." Kankuro just shrugged uncaringly.

Sakura the puppet master to her left a playful glare and he smirked in reply, "You missed dinner, Naruto." Inner Sakura made a comment about the blonde causing all sorts of trouble in Suna left unsupervised and the medic entirely agreed, holding back the scolding she had in store for Kankuro's irresponsibility.

Arina glided around the furniture and squatted in front of the TV, "I asked him to pick me up a movie," she told them over her shoulder. Naruto nodded, as if affirmation was needed, as he swung himself into a seat across from Kankuro's, on the right side of the couch.

The Kazekage watched silently as Sakura's plump, petal shaped lips formed a circular shape in understanding and he swallowed thickly, preparing to make his exit.

'**And where do you think you're going,'** Arina's sing-song voice entered his mind, causing him to visibly cringe. _Thankfully_ (or was it, really) his older brother had engaged both Konoha ninja in conversation and he was sure neither of them had noticed his blanched expression.

'_Upstairs,'_ was his snapped reply as he pushed himself off of the wall.

Arina sighed almost inaudibly from her spot in front of the TV, pausing in her actions of putting the DVD in the player, **'I can't let you do that. You need to be more social… You'll forgive me for having to do this, right**_**, Gaara dear**_**…?'**

The odd purr in her voice raised the maroon hairs under his armor on his neck. _'You won't…'_ He was wrong, however, as she proved she would as he felt his legs moving stiffly in the direction of the couch on their own accord. _'You're shitting me, take this off of me immediately.'_

Arina leaned forward, holding the hand-sign necessary for her mind take-over technique as she hunched over slightly to remain unnoticed. Her lip lifted in a half smile as Gaara's body was forcibly placed on the couch and only then did she release her seal.

'_Damn it to hell.' _His new predicament irritated him and he attempted not to let his growing ire settle on his face. The redhead was now stiffly seated not a foot to the right of the roseate haired female, who turned her head and beamed at him, before turning her attention to Temari, who had settled on the floor leaning on Kankuro's chair. "What kind of movie is it?"

"Horror," Temari replied nonchalantly, grabbing a pillow from under a disgruntled Kankuro's head and placing it behind her back. Sakura's brow twitched as she swallowed audibly, earning her the attention of the fuming Kazekage seated next to her. After the redhead had been manipulated into a sitting position - with not even an attempt at resistance from his resident demon, he mused darkly- he found that he couldn't move. This time, he couldn't blame the force of Arina's mind technique.

Arina sat down on the left side of Sakura and the Konoha medic scooted over to allow her more room, accidently brushing against Gaara in the process. He could now _feel_ her warmth radiating off of her creamy skin as she sat what must have been a mere three inches from his own person.

"So," Kankuro grunted as he shifted to find comfort without the pillow that had been so viciously stolen from him, "What horror movie is it?"

"The Reaping," Arina replied. It was biblical, or paranormal depending on how it was viewed, horror flick – being shinobi, it was hard to find a horror movie that could successfully scare the bejeebus out of them. The blood and gore on display in usual horror movies were child's play to ninja of their caliber.

Sakura quietly unfolded her legs from underneath them, opting to pull her knees to her chest and wrap her arms around them, "May I see the box, Tem?"

"Sure," Temari replied, reaching over and handing the box to her friend.

On the cover were the large words written in an eerie font, "_What Hath God Wrought?_" The whole picture was in orange, red, and black shades, giving the picture a damned, apocalyptic, hell like feel. There was a river curving from the right side into the middle then back to the right, in a glowing scarlet shade. A church stood in the left, far off distance of the picture. Fire-like clouds plagued the higher skies, and black, small birds in large quantities infested over the blackened land.

The girl shivered, looking over the picture, and then bravely moved her eyes over the summary.

"_The atheistic Katherine Winter is a former Catholic missionary that lost her faith in God after losing her daughter and her husband in Sudan, sacrificed by the locals that blamed them for the long drought. Presently she investigates religious phenomena with the intent of debunking them, finding a scientific cause for the event. She is invited to go to the small town of Haven, in Louisiana, where the river turned into blood after the death of a boy. After her arrival, each of one of the ten biblical plagues happens in the location dazing Katherine, who discloses the evil secret of the dwellers."_

Gaara read the box quickly from her side, than looked over to see the kunoichi's reaction as she reread the summary. Her eyes looked nervous as she looked up at the screen, as if expecting something to jump out and grab her- like he would let it - if there was something, which was not noted for obvious reasons. She had missed the very beginning of the movie and was now watching as a woman, the main character no doubt, stood in front of a screen, seemingly explaining something.

Now the redhead wasn't paying attention; he was too busy being pestered by the demon that had successfully haunted him his entire waking existence.

'**Boy, I can smell her fear.'** Shukaku said slowly, shifting his massive body apprehensively.

Gaara didn't deign his demon with a response, still irritated by its lack of action when Arina had manipulated his body, focusing idly on some spot on the far off wall.

The Ichibi growled, never one to be ignored, and the Kazekage closed his eyes as his head was met with a painful pang**, 'Do not ignore me. Do something about this.'**

'_What could I possibly do? She is a shinobi, she will be fine.'_

'**Regardless, her fear causes me anxiety.'**

Gaara heaved a heavy inward sigh, but was distracted before he formed a reply.

Sakura stiffened rigidly beside him and his kohl rimmed eyes focused back to the screen, where he could see Katherine, the main character, walking through a swamp, randomly snapping photos of wildlife. She came to a tree with a hole in it which had fungi growing up the side, ready to take a picture, when a girl with short blond hair of about twelve jumped out of the hole in the tree.

Anticipating something like that, Gaara wasn't at all surprised.

Sakura, on the other hand, was not anticipating it.

The alarmed kunoichi jumped and clung onto his arm, burying her face in his shoulder. Her whole body was turned in his direction as she huddled against him in her frightened state. He stiffened immediately, encountering something he had not managed to anticipate. The sand in his gourd shifted against the wall in accordance to his surprise, but settled upon Shukaku's will.

Stunned, Gaara's thoughts sputtered, _'She… she's touching me.'_

'**Instincts, boy,' **murmured Shukaku sagely in response to his vessel's panic.

Gaara hesitantly reached his hand onto her shoulder, lowering his face next to where her hair draped onto his shoulder, "The part is over… you can look up now." _'…But please don't.' _Gaara knew he was enjoying the contact, probably too much, a possibly he'd ponder later on in the night when his thoughts made sense and there wasn't a mass of warm, soft flesh pressed intimately against his arm.

The pink haired girl's head snapped up, her normally cream colored face flushing crimson. She pulled herself off of the Kazekage, "I'm sorry," she kept mumbling as she straightened herself out.

Kankuro gave a chuckle at her expense, to which she responded childishly by poking her small pink tongue at him.

Her face still burning, Sakura set her attentions back to the film. For the split second she wasn't terrified or mortified, she enjoyed being closer to him than most people have. Gaara was warm but he couldn't have been human temperature, more like room temperature. His arm was lean, but hard and toned. His scent was strongly brisk, like she would have imagined, but she couldn't pinpoint it exactly. She thought he smelled like the night air of Suna; crisp and potent.

'**Our future mate has to touch us sometime, I'd advise you to become used to it, boy.'** Shukaku commented evenly, shuffling his body into a laying position.

'She is not yours nor will she ever be,' Gaara replied with a snarl, resisting the urge to grasp at his head as Shukaku responded with a threatening pang pain.

'**You make me repeat myself. Whatever is yours also belongs to me. We are one, boy. Your preference is inconsequential to the matter.'**

'_I will not deliver her to a demon,' _the Kazekage objected brazenly.

'**That, boy, is a promise you will be unable to keep. For you are a jinchuuriki, a demon, deny it all you desire. However, when she is yours, she is inevitably mine as well.'** Shukaku stated; his voice calm unlike that of the fuming Kage.

Gaara put his words under consideration before responding. The redhead already knew he was being selfish by even entertaining thoughts of her company.

Soon, the tankui demon became increasingly bored with his vessel's musings and laid its massive head down on its paws, allowing a fantasy to consume his vessel's mind.

_Gaara was at his desk in his office, like any other day… Though he knew what Shukaku was doing. He prepared himself to lose all control when the pink haired medic walked through the door, which she surely would soon. He was completely prepared to be trapped within his mind as his subconscious body took over. Almost directly after he had completed the preparation of himself, there came a knock on his door._

"_Come in," Gaara stated, stiffening his shoulders._

_The door opened and as sure as his hair was red, the pink haired medic sauntered in. _

"_Konnichiwa, Gaara." Sakura greeted the Kazekage, bowing in respect. Gaara grunted and she rose from her bow, smiling of course. Gaara noticed her smile, and whole expression, was different, though he couldn't pinpoint in what aspect the distinction was._

_Her smile contained its normal sincere warmth and strange happiness in his presence- her pale pink lips curved upward sweetly. Her eyes lacked none of their kindness or of their determination or steadfastness- her jade eyes polished in glittery emotion._

_There was something… strange, though, about the curve of her lips and gleam of her eyes. There seemed to be another emotion in her eyes, another reason her smile was placed on her face._

_It had to do with some emotion he couldn't place, a human emotion in which he was very unfamiliar with in personal experience._

_The medic strolled up to his desk, sliding up and sitting on the corner nearest him. She crossed her long milky legs, placing her elbow on her knee and resting her chin in her hand. "I start teaching a class today and I was wondering if you could give me your opinion on one of my lessons, Gaara." The way his name rolled off her tongue made his insides shudder._

_The, now intently curious, Kazekage grunted his acceptance. The girl's smile was now filled with more of that puzzling something that he couldn't place before. _

"_It's a lesson of how the body reacts under immense amounts of stress, pressure, or anxiety." She explained, her face lowering to his level._

_Sparkling jade eyes stared intently into that of impassive sea foam green. Her face was so close to his that her warm breath splayed onto his mouth and chin. As she leaned closer, her nose brushed against his with every breath she took. He was so close to her, his whole body ached to touch her, thoughts that she wasn't really there gone from his mind. "How the body seems to act on its own accord." She whispered, sending more warm breath to blow against his lips._

_The pink haired girl's hand left from under her chin and rested on his neck, and his whole neck suddenly felt warmth wash over it. "How the blood pressure rises," she whispered again, tilting her head slightly, allowing her face closer._

_Soft skin of her cheek brushed against his, her lips still in front of his. Jade eyes watched carefully now slightly panicked sea foam green. He felt her finger on his neck run gently from his hairline to the collar of his robes and back up again in a continuous motion, and his skin was now hot. The thumping from his chest filled his head, "Or how the pulse rises."_

_The Kazekage was indeed feeling the things she listed, though they were not real. Shukaku was messing with his senses, the things he thought he was feeling mild to the real thing…_

"_How do you think this lesson will go on with the class, Gaara?" As her lips moved to form his name, he felt them brush against his and suddenly, she was gone._

Gaara was jolted back to reality, and he already missed the feel of her warm skin and lips, even though the feeling was not real. But, the thing was, it felt so _real_. So painfully, devastatingly, terribly real!

As suspense in the movie he was now blatantly ignoring (as he was mulling about his fantasy in his head) built, he saw out of the corner of his eye Sakura's fist clenching. Redirecting his eyes, he saw Katherine walking into a poorly kept wooden house. The suspenseful music increased as she walked around a kitchen area and finally walked into a walk in pantry. Blood droplets were on the floor, and she pushed open a secret passage in the pantry, revealing a cross symbol with a hook at the bottom, curving up right into a three fourths circle.

She suddenly turned around and there was the blond girl, with piercing blue eyes, in an orange dress. She talked to her in hushed tones, the girl not responding.

Sakura watched as the two walked onto the porch of the house, but was frightened, again, as Katherine touched her blood and there was a flashback scene. The Medic jumped, and Gaara thought she was going to jump to him once more and he readied himself.

She jumped again as the screen returned to the porch and Lauren, the girl, was gone.

Katherine walked into the house and Sakura gasped as someone snuck up on Katherine. They spoke in hushed tones for a moment, until the woman was jumped on by Lauren. She jumped and unconsciously leaned towards Gaara as the woman and Lauren wrestled.

Gaara eyed her startled face, preparing his arms, at his sides, to catch her if or when she pounced on him. He was ready and would not be nervous or too surprised by her touch again. The redhead was ready to feel her warm skin and soft body for a second time.

Sakura gasped slightly as the dead boy was revealed. He was puke green, his mouth was wide open and his eyes wide. Sakura, in her time as a medic, had seen such things so wasn't too surprised. Gaara found himself relieved and a little disappointed in that fact.

The redhead did a double take on his own thoughts. He wanted her to be afraid? That wasn't right, and he knew it. What he really wanted was for her to willingly touch him again, but in order for that to happen she had to be frightened. Ironic, really, he wanted her to touch him because no one ever willingly touched him because they were afraid. Yet he wanted her to be afraid so she _would_ touch him. His life was just a ball of irony.

By the time Gaara set his focus on the TV from mulling in his thoughts, Katherine was back in the poor kept house, descending down some dark steps. She entered an eerie room; it looked like a torture chamber. He heard Sakura suck in breath as the music intensified going over the weapons and torture methods. The woman from before sat there, holding a small gun. She shot it into her mouth, killing herself, and Sakura squeaked, turning and pressing her face into his shoulder briefly.

The redhead's eyes flickered to the pink head against his shoulder. He could feel the details of her face pressed against his arm… the arch of her nose, the imprint of her eyes, the softness of her lips even through his shirt… then she pulled herself off of him, mumbling an incredibly sheepish "sorry" as she straightened herself out.

Lauren descended the steps and Katherine hid under them. Blood oozed on the floor. Katherine's radio went off, alerting Lauren of her presence. She was then distracted by police sirens.

Gaara looked at Sakura who was biting her lip as Katherine opened the front door, revealing the outside flooding with locusts. Lauren stood in the middle of the front yard, amidst the bugs. One of the men cocked his gun, and the locusts attacked.

The people writhed as the locusts attacked and Katherine ran back into the house, running from the bugs. Her partner ran from the house, taking shelter in a graveyard crypt. The walls were made of skulls, and, shining small light around, hanging dead bodies of children were suddenly revealed. Sakura yelped, all but throwing herself on Gaara's lap, pressing the side of her face in his chest and keeping one eye on the TV screen.

Gaara tensed, but prided himself on his lack of reaction – unlike the previous time she had thrown herself at him (Shukaku gave a throaty chuckle at that particular thought). He placed his right hand on the small of her back and reached his left to her shoulder. The kunoichi had her calves against his thigh, kneeling almost on his lap.

Shukaku offered an approval, **'Much better.****'**Gaara ignored the demon's comment and focused his attentions on the girl holding onto him.

The pink haired girl knew the part that was startled her was over, but she couldn't bring herself to let go of the redhead. He was extremely comfortable for her tired body to rest itself on. The day at the hospital had worn her out more than she made known to her friends.

The fatigue hit her at its full force, hard and fast; she hadn't realized it was as strong as it was, which quite frankly, embarrassed and enraged her a little. She was the apprentice of the Slug Princess, damn it! Of all people, Sakura should have been in tune with her own bodily needs. Gaara wasn't helping the matter, either. He hadn't pushed her off of him, but in fact shifted and allowed her more comfort. The pinkette felt her already heavy lids being pulled down by the gravity of her fatigue.

Gaara heard the girl's breathing steady, and her body became slightly limper. He looked down at the side of her face visible to him, for the left side was pressed against his chest, and sure enough, her eyes were closed. Gaara shifted her again just slightly, gently making sure she didn't wake, so she was more comfortable against him.

'**I'm impressed with you, boy… and a little proud.'**

'_Well doesn't that just warm my heart…'_ Gaara retorted sarcastically.

Shukaku dismissed that comment, **'She trusts us enough to cling to us when she was frightened and then to fully let her guard down enough to relax herself into sleep, boy. That not only proves that she is not afraid of us, which we have established, but she is fond of us. So you must have done**_**something**___**correctly.'**

Gaara blinked, surprised, at the logical words of the demon, _'Well, I guess so. But I lack understanding regardless, she didn't look so tired before.'_

'**Hm…'** Shukaku hummed in deliberating, pausing for a moment, **'It seems our mate tired her chakra out today at the hospital.'**

The Kazekage grunted in reply, not liking the idea at all, but silenced his thoughts from becoming even more selfish. She was strong, he knew from Naruto's ramblings and Shukaku's acceptance of her, so he had no reason to be even the slightest bit upset. Even through the logic of his thoughts, he couldn't help the nagging thought in the back of his head. This emotion was unfamiliar to him, like many others, and he didn't understand it in the slightest.

Arina rolled her eyes at the far off distance in the redhead's eyes. The pink haired girl slept soundly against his chest, huddled against his side while his left hand on her shoulder absentmindedly slid through the ends of her hair. She smiled at the scene before her, and was disappointed to have to put it to an end. She signaled Gaara to wake her, for the movie was almost ended.

He caught Arina's signal, and shifted the girl in his arms. The Kazekage hadn't realized the movie was over, being otherwise occupied with his musings, as he was wont to do these days. The redhead was cautious about waking Sakura. He decided on the method her used when she first was frightened. He lowered his face to her ear, shaking her shoulder gently with his left arm.

Sakura felt someone shaking her very gently, so gently she thought it was a dream, disturbing her from her comfortable sleep. She lazily blinked open her eyes. The hand on her shoulder stopped moving; and regaining her senses, she noticed for the first time breath at her ear.

"It is almost over…." The voice said from her ear. Emerald eyes widened with realization as she recognized the voice. Did she seriously fall asleep on _the_ Sabaku no Gaara? Moreover, he allowed her to?

The, still admittedly drowsy, girl sprang herself off him, only to be pulled back to his chest, by his hands that he hadn't moved from her.

'_Shukaku, I should have known, she doesn't want me touching her!'_ Gaara shouted angrily in his head.

'**Calm down, boy!**' Shukaku barked in response.

As Gaara loosened his arms from her, Sakura sat up, though still pressed against his side. Gaara still had one arm around her waist but his right hand had slid to her left shoulder. "S-sorry," She mumbled quietly.

The redhead shook his head slightly, "It is fine."

Emerald eyes peeked to the side, to the hand on her shoulder then to the hand on her waist, staring there the longest, finally landing on his impassive face. His dark-rimmed eyes flickered down, meeting hers with his stony expression fully intact, for just about the longest three seconds she had ever experienced in her life. Soon after, as the credits began rolling on the screen, unnoticed by Sakura, his arms around her loosened before letting go all together.

After staying still against his side for a second after her release, the pink haired girl sat up straight. Everyone got up and stretched, besides the medic, who stretched on the couch, and the Kazekage, who sat motionless next to her.

_**Go forth and Review.**_


	5. Chapter 5: Lesson in Demonolgy and More

_Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I really want you to know I appreciate it and I'm sorry if I didn't respond to your last one. I always like to thank you for reading, reviewing, story alerting, or favoring but sometimes I don't have the time when I get the review, story alert, ect. So I forget when I do have the time. So sorry._

Good songs besides Should I Tell Her to listen to on repeat while reading this chapter are:

Luv Addict- Family Force Five

Scene for Dummies- Hollywood Undead

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own Should I Tell Her. All I own is Arina and that bug that just died on the floor… okay so I don't own it but really who will stop me? 

Should Tell Her?

Chapter 5

_The Plan was more than half over, if not more, since most of their w__ork was done for the two scheming kunoichi. A fortunate and lucky happening, surely something the Mind meddling kunoichi could thank partly the Sand Bijuu, partly the scary movie, and partly Gaara's feelings for the petite Medic Nin._

Naruto got up and stretched, only to fall back onto his chair as Arina's excited voice entered his mind, **'Naruto! Great job with the movie! Together, you, Temari, and I are invincible! Gaara will tell her in no time!'**

Getting up, smoothly brushing imaginary dirt off him, Naruto replied in his head to the Mind Reading kunoichi, _'I'll admit Arina, we're good, but people can still see us.'_

Naruto then went up stairs, leaving a slack jawed Arina, gaping at his stupidity.

Arina shook off the leaf shinobi's idiocy and entered Temari's mind as everyone went upstairs to change into their night clothes. **'Hey, Tem, I hope you liked that movie because while watching it, you missed a hell of a lot.'**

'_Dammit! What'd I miss?'_ Temari thought, angry with herself for becoming so engrossed in the movie that she forgot the incentive of watching it in the first place.

'**I'll fill you in later, but for now help me set up the last step for tonight.'** Arina replied, entering the room she shared with Sakura. The raven haired kunoichi kept the passive look on her face as she secretly conversed in her head. She had been doing it all her life, anyway.

Arina smiled slyly at Sakura, who was pulling some clothes out of her bag and facing her. "What?" the Konoha Medic asked cautiously, wary of the expression on the devious Mind Reader's lips.

The raven haired girl walked in her dance-like manner to the dresser on Sakura's side of the room, then opened the top draw and pulled out some black and red garments. Sakura immediately started to protest as they were held out to her by a pale hand. "No way, Arina, you must be crazy! I don't even understand why you bought half the things you bought." Though the pajamas weren't the most problematic clothes for Sakura, she thought she'd get ahead and start arguing _now_ for future outfits she didn't want to wear.

The white eyed kunoichi started her rebuttal, "Yes you will, and yes I am but that's irrelevant. We bought them because you have nothing like them and because they all look great on you. You are way too conservative, you know that?"

Jade eyes narrowed at her, "I am here on a mission, not to change my wardrobe." They were now arguing over the whole amount of new clothes for Sakura, not just over a simple pajama set.

Arina smirked, already having a response for that, "You're not doing your mission now, are you?" She watched as Sakura's face twitched, finding nothing to say to that.

Shoving the clothes into Sakura's hands, Arina danced past her and grabbed out her own silver and blue pajamas. On her way into the bathroom, Arina snickered to herself at the glowering, though defeated, expression on Sakura's face.

Though it only took about a minute and a half for Arina to get changed, she allowed Sakura more time, knowing that her own speed surpassed that of the pink haired Medic. During the extra minute spent in the bathroom, Arina pinned her hair up in a clip to the side. She wore loose blue pajama pants with silver chibi rhinos printed on it and a blue wife beater with a large blue chibi rhino printed on the front. After decided three minutes was sufficing time for the Konoha Medic to change, Arina exited the bathroom and pranced up to Sakura who had just finished pulling her shirt down.

Grinning like the mad woman she was, Arina circled around her friend, surveying her attire: Dark red tank top with black straps crossing in the middle, from her sides, forming an X and small black shorts with the same style dark red X's crossed on both legs that went to mid thigh.

Sakura huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, straightening her spine in a defiant way. Though she didn't particularly _mind_ the clothes she was currently wearing, as she had never been daring enough to wear anything as such even to bed, though she was just too damn stubborn. Too bad for Sakura that the girl in front of her could hear every thought she processed.

"Well, I think you look hot, no?" Arina grinned, discarding the grunt of "no" she received and continued to pull her comrade out of the room, "Lets get down stairs." Sakura went ahead downstairs and Arina hurried back into their room. After moving her sheets, she used a kunai to loosen each leg of the bed. Hurriedly pulling the sheets over the bed, Arina couldn't help but grin to herself about her plan. It's chances of succeeding were very high. Damn, how she loved her and her friends' circumstances right now. After the deed was done, Arina scurried downstairs.

Temari met her in the kitchen and both bizarre Sand Kunoichi laughed manically. "ICE CREAM!" They yelled simultaneously. Temari's pajamas consisted of a purple tank top with a large teddy with its head ripped off with its stuffing all around it and the wording "Fluff off" and overly large, purple pajama pants.

Kankurou past by them cautiously, then leaned against the counter opposite the refrigerator, where the entrance to the kitchen directly into the hall was. He wore a large black T shirt and black pants, not as creative as Naruto, who had just come bouncing into the kitchen. The leaf shinobi wore blue pajama pants, an orange wife beater, and of course, his bizarre sleeping hat over his blond spikes.

Sakura strolled in, sighing at the crazy kunoichi as they rambled about the kitchen, gathering ice cream and condiments for said treat. She leaned against the side of the counter and did not interrupt her friends' ice cream craze.

Kankurou wolf whistled and received a smack on the head from both Temari and Arina who had purposely stopped to hit the Puppet Master. The Puppet Master held his head and groaned, only to again be smacked on the back of the head by Gaara who had been calmly walking in behind him.

"Hey, what the hell was that for?" Kankurou asked bitterly, rubbing his now pounding head. Gaara was in mid shrug when he caught sight; or rather Shukaku caught sight, of Sakura.

'**Shit! We know how to fucking pick them!' **Shukaku shouted in his mind.

'_Shut up, you sick teme!'_ Gaara barked to his bijuu, trying to keep obscene thoughts of Sakura from flooding through his mind.

'**You know you were thinking it. She is our mate after all.'** Shukaku said simply, explaining what he had already said many a time before.

'_No, she is not even close to being… that.' _Gaara was disgusted by the bijuu's way of making Sakura sound like a material item.

'**Maybe so, but you know you'd never let another man lay a hand on her.' **Shukaku scoffed, knowing that he was right.

Gaara decided to try and block the Sand Demon's thoughts and tried to focus on anything but Sakura. He obviously didn't want her to catch him staring at her, not wanting to look like the pervert his brother was.

**(AN: Creepy bloody part here, you can skip to the next paragraph if you want)** The exposed creamy skin of her legs was hard to ignore though, being it tantalizingly real unlike his fantasy. He noticed how perfect the dark scarlet color blended so nicely with her cream skin. Though he wished not to think such thoughts, his natural demonic bloodlust wondered just how beautifully her skin would glow accented by the lighter scarlet color of fresh blood. He wondered what her scent would be like mixed with the metallic smell of freshly spilled blood. **(AN Bloody part – over)** He clenched his fist as it started shaking, knowing that if he didn't control his thoughts now, he would lose all control.

If there anything he didn't want, it was to lose control with Sakura present. He didn't want her to see him in his bestial form, though she had already seen it once when he nearly killed her in the Chuunin Exams. Gaara doubted that Shukaku would hurt her now, but it was a chance he did not want to take. Scaring or possibly attacking her was the very last thing he would tolerate.

The Kazekage watched as Sakura moved from her spot and took three bowls from the cabinet. She handed one to Naruto and one to Kankurou. He figured the third was for her, then as she walked over to him, surprising him. "Here ya' go, Gaara!" She said cheerfully as she handed him the bowl. The innocence of her voice diminished any demonic thoughts he could possibly muster about her.

He grunted softly in response, gaining a smile and the shaking of her head, though he did not know what about.

They all sat in the kitchen, some leaning against the counter, some sitting at it, and two still buzzing around. After gathering the ice cream and all condiments, the two kunoichi lay all of the items out on the counter. With mischievous expressions, the two dove into preparing their dessert, while the rest of them prepared it in a steady, slower, saner manner.

Gaara, not really one that ever really indulged in any kind of sweets, just plopped a bit of vanilla ice cream in his bowl. Kankuro and Naruto, however, mixed all kinds of ice creams together, forming an oddly colored soup. Sakura calmly scooped some vanilla and a bit of strawberry flavored ice cream with some sprinkles into her bowl.

The two crazier kunoichi mixed all the ice creams together, though did not mix it into soup, and poured tons of other treats into each their bowls, creating a very colorful heart attack in a bowl.

After they all consumed their treat, Arina peaked into Sakura's mind to see just how close to exhaustion she was, and if she would need to interfere. Her chakra, though subtly hidden, was low. Arina could tell, even after the sugar of the ice cream, the pink haired medic was putting up quite the battle to keep her eyes open.

Knowing neither of the two male idiots, Kankurou and Naruto, would go upstairs without asking why, Arina tapped into their minds and they both headed upstairs. Temari also left to bed, bidding them all good night with a wink.

Alert by his sister's sly action, Gaara was ready to bolt upstairs, until her heard Arina's gasp of "Sakura!" Whipping his head to the side where Arina stood with Sakura by the counter, sea foam eyes widened.

There Arina stood with Sakura shambled in her arms, apparently holding her up against the will of gravity pulling her limp body down. "Gaara, help me!" Arina hissed, not being able to hold the girl in the current position, adjusting the pink head against her chest.

Worried, Gaara glided over to Arina and took Sakura easily into his arms, adjusting her bridal style in his arms. "What's wrong?" Receiving a sigh, Gaara looked up at his friend for explanations.

The black haired medic shook her head. "She totally wiped herself out today. I can tell it wasn't necessary for her to go all out, but she did, and now her lack of chakra is shutting her system down for much needed rest." Gaara nodded slowly, understanding what she said but also confused to why Sakura would knowingly waste chakra, and why she didn't say anything about her fatigue. "Well," Arina said, waving her hand towards him and trying to look offhanded, "Seems like you have this under control. Take her up to our room."

Gaara growled under his breath as he grudgingly followed the white eyed kunoichi upstairs, knowing there was some kind of set up going on. On the way to the bedroom, Gaara found he couldn't help himself from looking down to the pink haired girl sleeping in his arms. Her head was lolled to the right side, resting against his left bicep, and her lips parted slightly as her breath past through. The sleeping medic's left arm dangled, hitting his leg occasionally as he walked, and her right arm was comfortably resting against his chest.

He was quite proud of himself for various reasons. One being for not freaking out and hyperventilating from having her literally cuddled (though he opted not to think of the situation as "cuddling", as not to emasculate himself, even he had his damn male pride) against him. The second was for being able to ignore the perverted and sadistic bastard of a demon thrashing in his mind.

They arrived in the room both medics shared and Arina gestured for him to set the Konoha medic on her bed. While carefully doing so, setting her back and legs down then placing her head gently on her pillow, he heard something crash and a yelp. He saw Sakura's brow twitch and her head lolled to the side, while doing do her nose brushed against his. If he was one to do so, he would have bitten his lip in worry that she wake up and realize their close proximity. Standing up straight, he looked over to see Arina sitting on her bed that sat on the floor with its legs broken and lying on the floor.

Temari ran into the room and looked down at Arina, who had her arms crossed and was pouting, and abruptly burst into laughter. Kankurou swept into the doorway and looked down at Arina. "Two words," He drawled, though the large smirk on his face contradicted his indifferent voice, "Jenny. Craig."

Seeing pale skin brighten in rage and white eyes widen, Kankurou quickly made his exit. Arina, enraged of course, chased after him, pushing Temari to the side in her dash of blind anger. "Get back here _Kitty-Kanky_! It's **neutering** time!"

Finally stifling her laughter, Temari finally managed to breathe, than gradually speak to her little brother who stood somewhat awkwardly next to the sleeping Sakura's bed. "Arina will sleep in my room," her giggling then started again, "I just hope my bed can stand whatever abuse Arina dished on this poor thing," she gestured toward the broken bed then paused thoughtfully, "Hopefully she'll take her anger out on Kankurou." The fan wielding kunoichi left her brother in the room with the sleeping kunoichi, shutting the door behind her, after that.

Gaara shifted on his feet as he switched his gaze back down to the medic on the bed. This girl was seriously dangerous- not pertaining to her monstrous strength or her dangerous temper.

Unknowingly, Sakura had come to Suna and altered his sister and his other "sister" into actual girls. Not that they weren't girls before of course, he wasn't that dense humanly, but they were actually acting girly, apart from killing Kankurou. _Girly_, like puppies and rainbows and love, that kind of girly was just not his sisters. It was just _wrong_.

Innocently, Sakura had come to Suna and totally fucked up his emotions. She made him nervous, worried, and unsure. It was just not him- Sabaku no Gaara, the stubborn, indifferent, confident Kazekage of Suna. The little pink haired medic made him feel emotions he never thought would grace him, and damn him, in his life. It was just _wrong_.

Happily, Sakura had come to Suna not fearing the demon under his skin. She seemed comfortable being in a room with him while not fearing for her life. The pink haired medic- made noises in her sleep…?

Gaara looked curiously down to the girl. Was she… whimpering in her sleep? Crying, even?

Looking down at her face, he could easily tell she was discomforted. Her brow scrunched and her lip wobbled at soft whimpering noises escaped her throat. The Kazekage couldn't tell if she was in physical pain or emotional pain.

The redhead leaned down closer to study her face. For balance, he placed is hand on the right side next to her head on her pillow. She didn't appear to be hurt, and her chakra was still rebuilding itself. There was something other than physical pain… was she having a nightmare?

The skin of his brow furrowed. A nightmare, which made the most sense, though was none to comforting for he had no idea how to help her out of it. Never had he slept, never had he dreamt, therefore never had he experienced a nightmare. He had no initiative what a nightmare was like, if you were aware you were having one or if you were totally oblivious. If you saw from your own point of view or if you saw yourself from the third person point of view he had no idea. He knew not if you felt trapped in your mind or if you carried on your business as you would if you were awake.

Shaking his pointless musings, Gaara again tried to figure out how to sooth the pink head of her distress. He frowned has he saw the crinkled lines near her eye as she squinted in her sleep. Mindlessly, his hand not holding himself above her swept up, running his fingers over the lines. He suppressed a gasp as her expression slowly relaxed. Her soft skin smoothed under his calloused finger as they ran along any lingering discomfort lines on her face.

She sighed in content, making him suddenly stop with the feeling of her soft breath blowing across his skin. The Sand Bijuu, who was momentarily forgotten in Gaara's mind, growled as a frown reappeared on Sakura's face when Gaara stopped his soothing ministrations.

'**Our mate is in pain.'** Shukaku snarled, starting his pacing in Gaara's mind.

Gaara, who was curious to what Shukaku had said, forgot to correct the demon's referral to Sakura as his "mate." _'Why? What's going on, demon?'_

'**She is having a nightmare.'** Shukaku explained shortly.

'_What is it with… in… about??' _Gaara inquired, trying to figure out, with his lack of knowledge of nightmares, how to ask that question.

'**I don't know.' **Shukaku answered, his growling lessoning as Sakura's face once again relaxed when Gaara began tracing her face again. She sighed in content for a second time, and Gaara's fingers twitched slightly on her skin.

'_How do you know she is having a nightmare?'_ Gaara asked again, and then remembered something Shukaku had said earlier that he wished to be explained, _'And what is her… scent? The thing that you said… attracts demons.' _

'**Ah yes, boy, I wanted to explain to you more about demons and their mates.'** Shukaku said, and Gaara experimentally stopped the movement of his fingers on the sleeping teen's creamy skin. The only reaction was Sakura shifting her head, the side of her face shown to him.

'_Right, just get to the point.'_ Gaara replied, standing straight and walking toward the window where he sat on the sill, looking up at the sky, much like he did when he was a kid.

'**Of course, first of all, her scent is generally the smell of her blood,'** Gaara cringed at this, **'among other physical things. Each person's scent is different, but a jinchuuriku's mate's scent is distinct, especially to other demons. This warns them that they are already marked as another jinchuuriku's. The kitsune is fond of our Blossom because, like I said her scent. Since her scent is that of a demon's mate, the kitsune was naturally drawn of her due to the fondness her scent brought.'** Shukaku clarified, almost enjoying educating his vessel of demonology, ((A/N that the authoress JUST made up)) though only for personal, most likely perverted, game.

'_That explains why Naruto liked her years back, and their sibling bond now.'_ Gaara thought, understanding what the demon explained to him.

'**I suppose,'** Shukaku agreed, **'anything else you wish to know?'**

'_Hai… what marks, as you said, someone to be a demon's mate? As in, is there a special reason as to why someone is selected to have the scent of a demon's mate? Or is it just random?'_ Gaara asked, very inquisitive.

'**Usually, it is chosen through keki-genki, or something that makes that person strong, for instance the Godaime Hokage's chakra stamina. The point is to create the strongest offspring possible. Rarely, another jinchuuriku is chosen to be the demon's mate, which creates the strongest young, stronger than both jinchuuriku parents. Though, like I said, this is very rare.'** The sand demon elucidated thoroughly.

'_What is it about Sakura that makes her chosen? Is it her chakra stamina, like Tsunadae?'_

'**Remember what we saw in the hospital?'**

'…_Hai,'_ Gaara answered, remembering vaguely seeing Sakura with strange chakra of her keki-genki in the patient's room, _'what does that have to do with it?'_

'**It is her keki-genki, very powerful. **Shukaku seemed to very much approve of the Medic's strength, respectful even? '**Don't you remember me saying that? I even explained to you in detail what I was going to do to find out more.'**

'_Right… I thought you were just babbling so I wasn't really listening, but the Haruno clan has a keki-genki? Naruto never told me about this…'_ Gaara's dark rimmed eyes switched over to the contently sleeping kunoichi on the bed.

'**Hai, hai, I said it four million goddamn times! Though, it is extremely rare, even in the Haruno clan. Only select few in the Haruno clan possess it, the Blossom is the only existing clan member that has it. She probably never told the kitsune vessel, it seemed she hadn't dully mastered it quite yet.'**

'_That would explain why she was wiped out…' _His eyes narrowed as he thought some more,_ 'Do you think Arina knew about this?'_

'**Most likely, there is little she doesn't know.'** Shukaku said indifferently, fading back into a more dormant, as dormant as he ever was, part of Gaara's mind. Sometimes Gaara truly envied Naruto for his own demon's latency.

Shifting more comfortably, now that his demon was deeper in his subconscious, on the window sill, Gaara looked back towards the sleeping kunoichi. Even from exhaustion, she looked like an angel, an angel he should _never_ have the privilege to see. Her head was lolled to the side, splaying her hair on the white pillow in contrast with the shiny pink tresses. Looking down at her position, Gaara noticed goose bumps, undoubtedly from the cold desert air, on the exposed skin of her arms and legs.

Gaara's brows furrowed at his hindrance, not knowing how to solve the problem. Picking her up again was a possibility, going and getting a blanket from the closet was another. There were only two problems with those solutions, the first was his fear of waking her up, and the second was he didn't know where the _hell_ the closet that had any blankets was.

Getting up and standing over the sleeping, and cold, Sakura, The Kazekage was struck with an idea. It was something easy for him, quite literally in his element, and it was something he was comfortable with it. Extending his hand over her body, sand flooded from outside and under the door, from his gourd downstairs. The sand swarmed over Sakura, then crawled like a blanket over her. It wrapped around her, tucking her in, and warming her. She uselessly tried to snuggle into it, making Gaara smirk, and his smirk only widened as her arms trapped some of the sand in her arms like a teddy bear.

With his chakra imbedded in the sand from his gourd, Gaara could feel everything through it. When he was younger, half his bloodlust was filled by feeling his victims' body crushing and breaking under his sand. He could feel the shape of her legs, curled beneath the sand. The feel of her arms wrapped around the sand vividly as if they were around himself. He could feel the tips of her hair brushing against some of the sand on her shoulders. The sand even enabled him to feel as much as her soft skin under the grainy substance. The redhead was once again reminded of how she was very much like an angel. An angel in which his demonic sense could touch and feel in the most vivid way possible, even if she was unconscious in the time in which he did so.

It was so wrong, and he couldn't help his Satan forsaken emotions to feel it was wrong.

Yet again, Sakura's presence made Gaara learn something more about humanity. She taught him something more about people and the world around him. This lesson was simple, but significant:

Clichés are bitches.

_**Go forth and Review.**_


	6. Chapter 6: Past and A Dangerous Jutsu

_Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I really want you to know I appreciate it and I'm sorry if I didn't respond to your last one. I always like to thank you for reading, reviewing, story alerting, or favoring but sometimes I don't have the time when I get the review, story alert, ect. So I forget when I do have the time. So sorry._

A good song besides Should I Tell Her to listen to on repeat while reading this chapter is:

Believer- Kill Hannah

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own Should I Tell Her. All I own is Arina and that bug that just died on the floor… okay so I don't own it but really who will stop me? 

Should Tell Her?

Chapter 6

(Where you were evilly left many weeks ago…)

_It was so wrong, and he couldn't help his Satan forsaken emotions to feel it was wrong._

_Yet again, Sakura's presence made Gaara learn something more about humanity. She taught him something more about people and the world around him. This lesson was simple, but significant:_

_Clichés are bitches._

Almost at sunrise, around five in the morning on the third day of the Konoha shinobis' stay, Gaara left his spot on the window sill and collected his sand, leaving Sakura to lie in the sun's warmth. He exited the room, with the sand slinking after him, and summoned his gourd as he walked toward his own room.

Sitting on his mostly neglected bed, Gaara opened a book that had been left there. The Kazekage knew he hadn't left it there, so he was inquisitive to see what it was. The cover was void of anything, just red with some gold swirls on the edges. Opening it, Gaara found strange symbols, looking like ancient jutsu art, which just looking at it he couldn't read.

Summoning his sand, four very old looking books were carried to him and set beside him on his burgundy bed. The books had codes in them in which he could use to decode the curious looking book in front of him. They were part of the large library collection the Kazekage had. Each Kazekage would add books during their time of office and the collection was rather massive now.

After much page flipping and brow furrowing, Gaara found he was missing one key decoding book. It wasn't stolen; he just had never obtained it, surprisingly. Shutting all the books, as he was unsuccessful at decoding the book, the redhead decided to go on the roof, his obvious favorite spot of the mansion, and watch the rest of the sunrise that had just begun. He could ask Arina is she knew anything of the book in his room later. Shukaku was strangely vacant in his conscience, strange but far from unwelcomed. For now, he would admire his city and think of something else he admired.

_Should I let her know I'm really in love  
And that she's the one I been thinking of  
Women of my dreams ain't no one above her,  
Should I tell her…?_

Groaning, a mass under white blankets shifted as a rather hyper kunoichi awoke it. A pale arm left the warmth of the cotton and swatted the annoyance away. "Come on, Saku-chan, you have got to get up!" Arina sang, bouncing on her heels as she knowingly irritated the now groggily half-awake kunoichi.

A pink head pulled up from the blankets and faced the clock. At seeing the time, it fell back to the comfort of the pillow. "Arina," the annoyed Medic moaned, "its five-freakin' in the morning! I don't wake up for another hour."

"Yeah well you barely had time yesterday!" Arina argued, and then flipped the kunoichi out of her bed, sending her tumbling to the floor. She thudded on the floor and rolled heavily to the side. Groaning Sakura was ready to yell her hot tempered guts out when the door swung open.

"Arina, _what the fuck _are you do-?!" It was a very irritated Gaara, bothered from his peace on the roof from what he was sure to be Arina and her doings. What he didn't know was that Sakura would be tangled on the floor, limbs sprawled out and hair in her face. God, Kami, Moses, Buddha, Muhammad, and Allah were all laughing their celestial asses off at her right now.

Well _damn_.

"Ehehehe… um, early bird gets the worm, right Sakura?" Arina commented nervously, though neither shinobi could tell whose wrath she was worried about.

Sakura's eyes narrowed and she sprang from the floor, "Arina, I'm going to kick your ass!"

Apparently, as of now, it was Sakura's.

The white eyed kunoichi fled past Gaara and out of the room as Sakura pursued her up until she reached the doorway. There, Gaara grabbed her from behind around the waist and held her as she fought against him. She suddenly stopped after only seconds and turned, looking up at him through strands of her pink bangs, breathing more heavily than normal, but not quite panting.

"Don't try to get back at her through violence; you're better off waiting for the opportune moment." Gaara said in his normal empty voice, speaking more words in one sentence than Sakura thought she had ever heard from him.

"Right," Sakura sighed, then realized her situation, being held by the faded-scarlet-headed Kazekage, as she found herself several times in the past twenty hours, though this instance clad in her all too revealing night clothes with her hair sticking out at all odd angles. Blushing, Sakura began stuttering nervously.

How did she manage to constantly get herself into these awkward positions? She didn't know.

With covered reluctance, Gaara released the suddenly timid pink haired teen. She turned toward him to take a polite step away from him, only for her back to hit the other side of the doorway. There proximity between them was less then the length of her hand, making Sakura unsure that it was any better than him holding her.

Oh, _hell_.

Trying desperately to be polite, Sakura stayed in the doorway with him. "Uhm, sorry for disturbing you, Gaara…" She apologized, sincerely feeling bad about annoying him with her and Arina's morning antics.

Gaara shook his head slightly, speaking in short, to the point, sentences once again, "Don't apologize; it was not your fault." Sakura looked up at him through her pink bangs, waiting for him to say something, excuse himself, or give her a chance to do so. Gaara's hand twitched, wanting to brush the hair from her eyes.

As she just kept starring at him through her tangled hair, Gaara finally gave in and his hand slowly reached up and swept the hair from her eyes. Jade eyes widened at his action and black rimmed sea foam eyes narrowed as some hair fell back. His hand then brushed her bangs more carefully to the side, and then ran through the shoulder length pink hair, untangling it some. Gaara memorized the soft feel, even when unkempt, her hair held. Shukaku was quiet, something in which he found her contact, or his to her in some cases, to bring. Before he could smooth down the back or the other side, the faded-scarlet haired teen suddenly retracted his hand and abruptly turned away, leaving a now slightly heavier breathing pink haired teen leaning in the doorway.

'_Why the hell did I just do that?!' _ It was only the third day she was there and already it was his own state of mind, not under the influence of the Sand Bijuu that was beginning to deceive him.

_Should I really show my feelings inside?  
Everyday, its getting harder to hide._

'_Why… did he just do that?'_

Sighing, the pink headed teen turned and walked back into the bedroom, deciding to figure out the nonchalant, elusive teen/Kazekage's actions when she had the time and peace of mind, or at least try to. She picked up the blankets and quickly made the bed. After grabbing some clothes, she walked into the bathroom to take her shower. As the warm water relaxed her tensed muscles and her exotic soap refreshed her skin, Sakura thought back to when she had originally met Arina (and the Sand Sibs), with Team Sand during her first Chuunin Exams…

_**Twelve year old Sakura raced after that brat, Konohamaru, ready to kill him for his big mouth. She stopped as he ran into a bigger guy, dressed in black with purple face paint and a cat like hood, not to mention the wrapped thing on his back. He growled and picked the kid up by the collar, "Hey brat, watch where you're going!" Sakura was immediately intimidated. Konohamaru squealed and thrashed.**_

"_**Kankurou," the girl standing behind him sighed. She wore a light purple dress with a slanted hem reaching her knees with a black mesh knee sock and the other a black mesh tight reaching her knee. Her dirty blond hair was up in four ponytails on each side of her head; and a big thing that looked like a closed fan was strapped to her back. "Stop wasting time."**_

_**Both wore Sand Village headbands, the girl's around her neck and the big guy's on his head, both obviously shinobi. "Gomen-nasai. It's my fault; I was supposed to be watching him." Sakura apologized, bowing to the foreign Nin slightly.**_

_**Kankurou snorted, only to be silenced as a girl appeared in a white flash and smacked him on the back of the head, though he still did not release the kid. "Baka," she muttered. Sakura stood straight, looking at the kunoichi. She wore a black shirt with grey long sleeves layered under it and long black pants. On her shirt was a black anarchy symbol outlined in white and under it was a design that looked like barbed wire around her abdomen. A Sand headband was wrapped around her waist. Her long black hair was in a high ponytail, and her eyes were strangely silver. "Put him down, **__**he**__** should be coming soon."**_

_**Kankurou snorted, "Iie, if he can have his fun, I can have mine."**_

"_**Who are you and what are you doing here in Konoha, you are not from here." Sakura asked professionally, referring to their headbands. **_

_**Before they could respond, a pebble hit Kankurou. "Put the kid down," an arrogant voice came from a tree beside the path they were on. Sakura gasped. Sasuke had good timing, apart from interrupting her finding out who they were.**_

"_**Hey-!" "Kankurou, shut up." The black haired kunoichi's voice was ice. Kankurou actually shut up, smart enough to realize when she said shut up not to argue.**_

_**The black haired kunoichi turned to Sakura, ignoring the Uchiha. Her voice was no longer icy, but professional and nicer, "I am Seishin no Arina, from Village Hidden in the Sand, these are my comrades. Th-,"**_

"_**Arina," a gravelly voice suddenly appeared, coming from up in the trees, again interrupting, "What are you doing?" Shivers were sent down Sakura's spine at the hate and malice that filled the indifferent voice.**_

_**Kankurou and the other kunoichi froze. Sasuke and Sakura looked up and in the same tree Sasuke was in, there was another Nin, standing upside down on a branch. Sasuke looked surprised by his presence, not realizing his chakra until that second and wondering how he had got there.**_

"_**Gaara," Arina said, her tone changing again, "I was just about to apologize for Kankurou's idiocy. He refuses to return this runt to this kunoichi."**_

_**Gaara's icy eyes travelled to Kankurou, who stuttered, "Kankurou, you are a disgrace to Sand." He appeared on the path, "Put him down."**_

"_**H-hai, Gaara" And Kankurou released the kid, who squealed and ran over to a newly arrived Naruto who stood next to Sakura. Both Kankurou and the blond kunoichi seemed terrified of the scarlet-headed shinobi, though Arina kept a cool but semi cautious demeanor to her.**_

"_**Gomen-nasai," Sakura spoke up and apologized again. **_

_**Arina shook her head, "Kankurou is a baka, ignore him. But may I ask who you are?" Arina asked, speaking directly to Sakura and blatantly ignoring the other two.**_

_**Then Sasuke jumped down, standing in front of his two other teammates. Before he could speak, Naruto shouted, "Tell us who you are!" **_

_**He was hit in the head by Sakura, who was harshly whispering, "Naruto, shut up! She already told us who she was!" She looked up at Arina, who was glaring at Sasuke for his disruption earlier. "I," Arina looked back over at her, "am Haruno Sakura."**_

_**Arina nodded. Then Sasuke spoke again, "Who are you?" He was referring to Gaara.**_

"_**Is it not common courtesy to introduce oneself before asking the name of another?" He didn't seem fazed by Gaara's naturally deadly aura, but let out an arrogant one himself.**_

_**Sasuke smirked, "Uchiha Sasuke"**_

"_**Sabaku no Gaara"**_

"_**Why are you here?" Sakura asked again.**_

"_**We are participating in the Chuunin Exams." Arina explained, and Kankuro and the other kunoichi pulled out their identification cards, the blonde's name was Temari.**_

"_**No one asked my name!" Naruto exclaimed feeling left out.**_

"_**That's because no one cares, dobe."**_

"_**Shut up, teme! I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" He shouted, getting some rolling eyes and quirked eyebrows, though neither from the stoic Gaara and Arina.**_

"_**Anyway, we have better get going," Temari and Kankurou turned around as Arina began speaking, though she and Gaara stayed where they were, "I have to find my team and their sensei is waiting for them. Perhaps I'll see you at the Exams, Sakura." Arina purposely only spoke to Sakura, pissing off Sasuke, who was surprisingly showing emotion at all.. They turned and walked away, curious about the whole ordeal with the foreign Nin, and the Chuunin Exams.**_

Sakura remembered that wasn't the only time she saw Arina during the exams. She saw her and her team (the two bronze haired boys wore cloths over their faces, and wore the same outfit of a long sleeved shirt, layered with a loose sleeveless shirt loosely tucked into ninja pants, though one was brown and the other grey) in the room before the first exam, standing with Gaara's team, and she saw her during the first Exam. Then Sakura saw her and her team in the Forest of Death during the second Exam and during the preliminaries where she saw Arina fight for the first time and where her teammates were beat (presumably killed) and disqualified from the third Exam. And of course, Sakura saw her the last time the day of the third Exam, when Sand and Sound invaded and were defeated, and where the Third Hokage was killed by Orochimaru.

The pink haired teen stepped out of the shower and dried herself off. After getting dressed, she studied herself in the mirror. She wore faded black, with red seams, cargo capri pants with two layered belts; a gold belt hanging lazily off her waist and another red one crossing it in a different direction in the same loose manner. The cargos were fitting on the top but at knee length they loosened up. Her shirt was an off the shoulder white tank with a medieval goblet which had an intricately designed blood red cup and gold rims and stem, also intricately designed, printed on it, and under it was a black quarter sleeved shirt that covered her collar bone and shoulders from the sun, which the white shirt did not. Traditionally, she wore her Leaf headband, her Medic boots that reached just under her capri pants, and Medic gloves.

After accepting her outfit, she applied some black eyeliner, mascara, and a tinge of gold eye shadow under her brow and also a tinge of white eye shadow on her eyelids.

Walking back into the bedroom, she found two things. It was only quarter to six and Arina sitting crossed legged on her bed. "Oi, Arina."

"Good to see your head again, Sakura. I was worried that pink thing was eating you." Arina joked, receiving a dry look, then a smirk. "I'm glad you're wearing the stuff we got you. You look good. Feels nice to change your outfit sometimes, doesn't it?"

The pink haired teen sighed, gathering her medic stuff, "Hai, the clothes you got me aren't really my style but I really like them… but why don't you change your outfit if you think it 'feels nice'?"

"I like this 'style' on you," then Arina shrugged, "These are my training and mission clothes. You're not training and your mission requires you to be inside." Why did every time Sakura talked to Arina did it sound like she had time to think what she said through? It was annoying.

"Yeah, well I still don't see the point of you waking me up so early." Sure, she had to meet Gaara in his office every day before she went to the hospital for the rest of her mission, but Sakura was sure she could've made it if she woke up at an earthly hour of the morning… _'Okay, maybe not,'_ the kunoichi admitted to herself, _'But the rule that a visiting shinobi has to meet with the Kage when __**she is staying with him and his family**__, just to let him know that she hasn't been killed or whatever is defiantly a freakin' pointless rule!'_

"Well, actually I wanted to talk to you about something." The white eyed kunoichi patted the spot on the bed next to her, holding a smirk after reading Sakura's last thought. Sakura obliged and sat next to the kunoichi.

"What do you wanna' talk about?" Sakura inquired, getting comfortable as she sensed this would be a long conversation.

"Did I ever tell you about how I knew Gaara, Temari, and Kankurou?" She asked, "Why I'm so close to them?"

"Iie, I just thought you were all from the same village and…" Sakura trailed off, now very curious as Arina shook her head. "Tell you the truth I was just thinking about when I first met you guys during the Chuunin Exams."

Arina smiled a bit in remembrance and nodded, "Hai, we are from the same village, but there is a reason the three most brutal shinobi in Suna didn't kill me every time I was with them- and it wasn't my good looks." Sakura laughed.

"I was born the daughter of two shinobi, orphaned in the first few weeks of my life, and bred to control jinchuuriku, in this case the One Tailed Shukaku, Gaara." Arina decided to leave out the part about the original decision about the stupid betrothal and leave it with the other reason.

"The Fourth Kazekage wanted to make sure there was someone who could control Gaara from his mind rather than physically, if ever he got out of control. That was probably the only smart thing he ever did in his life. However, my mind controlling powers worked minimally, though enough to watch him and sometimes stop him from killing, due to the state of mind Gaara was in, because of Shukaku and Yashamaru, his uncle. Not to mention Shukaku's undeniable thirst for blood."

The kunoichi telling her story then decided to change to a different part, not wanting to go too far into Shukaku, leaving him hopefully to his vessel, "I knew Gaara all my life, when we were little I used to talk to him sometimes, but only in his mind so he didn't know who I was and he never said anything back. I wasn't supposed to be in any contact with him, the Council of Old Bastards didn't want me to dull their weapon." She spat that part, "I was the only person, even if I was only in his mind, he didn't threaten or attack. Finally, when we started the Academy, the Council decided to introduce their weapon and his keeper."

Sakura could tell this was raising more anger from the kunoichi and she placed her hand on her knee comfortingly. Arina nodded to her and continued, "He realized I was the person who talked to him and, silently, accepted my presence, enough not to try and kill me, though he still didn't trust me fully.

"After we graduated from the Academy, I was placed on a team that often worked with the Sand Sibs, for obvious reasons. Slowly, I gained enough trust, though not all of it, to talk to him, only getting one word answers if any at all," Arina smiled, "and fight next to him. It wasn't until Naruto that I was fully trusted."

Sakura nodded and said quietly, "He has that affect on people." Arina smiled along and nodded as well. "Agriato, Arina, for telling me that."

Beaming, Arina wrapped an arm around her pink haired friend, "I'm glad I did!" She then checked the time, "Its twenty past six, what time do you have to get to the hospital?" As soon as she opened her mouth to answer, Arina had already read her mind, "Oh seven, you still have time. Let's go have some breakfast!" The black haired kunoichi jumped off the bed and left the room.

The Konoha Medic sighed, "That's something that will defiantly take some getting used to."

Arina popped her head in the doorway, "Come on Sakura, I'm cooking, I promise. It's obvious you know Temari can't cook for **shit**, you don't have to be so polite about it." By that she meant it was safe to enter the kitchen, because Temari wasn't holding the cooking ingredients, and knowing her, it would be the wrong ingredients anyway.

Sakura walked down the stairs, only to walk into Arina's back at the bottom step. "Arina…?" She peered around the frozen kunoichi's shoulder to see what she was staring at.

In the kitchen in Suna, the Kazekage and family's kitchen, stood the blonde haired Sand Sibling, wearing a "Bite Me, Or Bite My Cooking" apron which had, written in Sharpie, "_before it bites you_" written in muddled letters under it. Holding in one hand was a skillet and the other was a spatula. Truly, a sight one wished not to wake up to in the morning… or afternoon, or evening, or twilight, or dusk, or late at night, or endure during that that strange period in between the Twilight Zone and Hell.

And sitting the counter on a plate, oh the poor, tortured plates which had to hold the mutants which the Fan Wielding Kunoichi created, was a live looking… _pitiful thing_. What was that live looking _scraggly, pitiful_ looking _**thing**_sitting on a plate in the kitchen in Suna, the Kazekage and family's kitchen, where stood the blonde haired Sand Sibling? The authoress didn't know… maybe Arina did?

Nope. Even the Mind Reading Kunoichi, Seishin no Arina, infamous for Mind Jumping and Mind Controlling, had absolutely no idea what the live looking _scraggly, pitiful_ looking _**thing**_sitting on a plate in the kitchen in Suna, the Kazekage and family's kitchen, where stood the blonde haired Sand Sibling was.

"I thought you said you were cooking?" Sakura asked the black haired teen, deciding to stay behind her just in case the _thing_ (the _thing_ which has been established to be live looking, scraggly, and pitiful, sitting on a plate in the kitchen in Suna, the Kazekage and family's kitchen, where stood the blonde haired Sand Sibling) decided it was hungry for a snack and attacked. Who knew what powers it possessed…!

"I thought I was cooking too."

"Ohayo, I made breakfast! **So eat it.**" Temari greeted; her face turning into a snarl for the last few words and her fist clenched, though both relaxed after and she resumed smiling.

"And to think, I knew Temari when she was once a crude, aggressive, cruel kunoichi. …. Oh how time changes people…" Arina whispered to Sakura, who tried to hold a giggle.

They both walked carefully to the left, side stepping and their eyes never leaving "breakfast." "Agriato, Temari, but… I'm just going to have some cereal… I don't want to over eat; I have a lot of work to do today." Sakura managed to get out of actually eating the _pitiful thing._

Temari nodded and pointed which cabinet the cereals were in. The Medic cautiously walked around the counter and opened the cabinet, grabbing some cereal, successfully saving her breakfast, and potentially her life, or at least her appetite until she was forty.

Arina, who was normally quite crafty, however, had run out of excuses for not eating the crap Temari cooked the week before. "Yeah, and I had that for lunch."

After getting a bowl and spoon, Sakura leaned in the doorway to the hall leading to the dining room ((AN refer back to Chapter 2 if you don't remember what the kitchen looks like)) She poured her Cocoa Puffs and milk into said bowl, then placed the box and milk on the counter, and listened to said kunoichi try to get out of eating said _pitiful thing._

"You haven't had lunch yet, its half six in the morning." Gaara's drawling voice came from behind Sakura, resulting in all occupancy of the kitchen to turn in his direction, except the pink haired girl herself. The Medic felt his breath blowing at the back of her head as he spoke, slowly and emptily as usual. She wordlessly stepped forward, allowing him to pass into the kitchen.

"I had it yesterday." Arina retorted, glaring at Gaara as he opened the refrigerator and grabbed an apple. "Hey Gaara, why don't you have some of this _delicious_ looking breakfast." If she was going down, he was coming with her. "Your skinny, you need to eat more, and that's my word as a Medic." Arina smirked.

"I don't know why I'm gracing your stupidity with an answer, but I will anyway. I don't have enough time to eat a full breakfast, while you on the other hand have all the time you want considering you make your own schedule and don't listen to me." Gaara calmly took a bite out of his apple after cleaning it on a towel.

"I thought you were Kazekage, you let those Old Bastards walk all over you. I figured your man pride wouldn't allow you to take orders, or are you lacking in backbone and testosterone to butte?" Sakura managed to keep her facial expressions even as she had never heard someone insult Gaara so directly and of course so comically. If she had heard that before Arina told her that story of her past, she would have thought the kunoichi had finally lost whatever fragment of her mind she retained.

Gaara growled, pausing in the consumption of his delicious looking apple, and a shiver went down the Medic's spine with of the animal resemblance it held. "Arina**, shut up**." His tone reminded her of the ice that laced Arina's voice when she told the same thing to Kankurou the first day they had met those years ago. "You very well know they do not control or have any say in me or my actions. I go in at the time in which I do because I, unlike your lazy ass, have work to do which needs to be completed because **I am** **Kazekage.**"

"Okay, okay, damn, no need to go all Cooco for Cocoa Puffs." Arina said defensively, and Sakura looked down at her convicted breakfast dejectedly. "You're already Cooco for one thing in this house, no need to add to the list." She mumbled, getting a muffled laugh from Temari, a quizzical look from Sakura, and a heated glare and a warning snarl of "**Arina**", as he crushed his apple in his hand, from the "Cooco" Kazekage himself ((AN I'm sorry, I had to)).

Placing her finger to her chin, she framed a thinking expression, "Well, I guess that answers the question of testosterone, doesn't it." Before her expression could be complete, before she could point to him, sand was shot at her from the stairs, obviously coming from Gaara's room, though Gaara's expression never really changed to that of anger, only slight annoyance.

The kunoichi fled from the kitchen as the sand pursued. She swiftly ran into the living room, dancing around the sand as she jumped about the room. It was quite a show until Arina disappeared in a white flash. She reappeared behind the now indifferent looking teen with faded scarlet messy hair. "I thought you had to get to your office, with your oh so busy schedule and all."

A soft _clank_ and another more metallic _clank _was heard, followed by a "What the hell?!" and muffled giggles. Arina turned toward the two other kunoichi in the room. Temari had the side of her fist pressed against her mouth and Sakura was looking innocently _guilty_ with her bowl of cereal in her hand. There was one thing missing to Sakura's innocent look, besides a pink flowery dress, with a matching bow, and a big ass lollipop: Her spoon. Said spoon was sitting on the floor, behind Arina.

"I'm sorry, Arina, I just had to." Sakura said, as if explaining why she had thrown her spoon and hit Arina in the head. In all fairness to Sakura, she had some nice aim, hitting Arina square in the back if the head.

Gaara turned towards the black haired kunoichi with a small smirk that she read as "Hah, she is on my side! I win, you lose." Though, only Arina would be able to pick up that much off of the small curve of the redhead's generally stoic expression. She returned with one "Well it doesn't matter because you're a big chicken!" look, that only Gaara could read. He frowned- bitch.

_I imagine life with her by my side but,  
Should I tell her…?_

"I do have to get to the office; I do not know why I've wasted twenty minutes of my time with your stupid, childish games." He then disappeared in a swirl of sand, leaving Arina standing there.

"Big Dufe, just disappearing like that, that's **mature**! Not to mention what a way to waste a perfectly good apple!!" Being the "mature one", she stuck her tongue out, maturely, of course. "Oh, by the way, Sakura its ten to seven," Arina said, after the retrieval of her tongue from midair, with a sadistic looking smirk.

Her Cocoa Puffs were nearly sent on the journey of their short lived, convicted life out of her mouth, "Shit!" She yelled, after swallowing of course. Quickly pouring her milk down the sink and throwing out her leftover cereal, she was ready to run out the door when she ran into someone, a bigger someone.

"Running a bit late?" Kankurou asked cheekily. "A bit." She retorted, smiling, and then it was over when she quickly dashed around him, where Naruto stood.

"Sakura-chan, what are you doing?"

The Medic stopped short, "Wait, what the hell **am** I doing?"

"Running so you're not late," Arina suggested, smugly, with of course a cheeky smile.

"Iie, and you need to eat your breakfast. It's the most important meal of the day, and that's my word as a Medic." The pink haired kunoichi then shushined in a flurry of cherry blossoms, leaving smirking Puppet Master, a surprised blonde kunoichi, one angry kunoichi, and a poor, clueless, blonde baka…

"I'll get you Sakura, dammit!"

Temari then faced Arina, "Now eat it!" She said, pointing to the _pitiful thing_.

"Well, I don't want to be selfish… Kankurou will have to share it with me." Said shinobi turned a strange shade of green upon seeing his awaiting "breakfast" –impending doom-, contrasting with his purple face paint. _'Holy shit… is that the neighbor's gnome?! Temari always did say it gave her dirty looks. CRAP!' _Thought the Puppet Master.

Again, if Arina was going down, one of those to egotistical morons was coming with her, even if it wasn't the egotistical part, but the moronic part.

Sakura shushined into the waiting room in the Kazekage office, but this secretary seemed indifferent. Reading a fashion magazine and leaning in her chair, obnoxiously chewing gum, it was apparent she impatiently waited for lunch break. With her long, dyed onyx hair, cold blue eyes surrounded by neon pink eye shadow, painted bright pink lips, and tanned complexion, Sakura figured the young secretary would much rather be repainting her matching, chipped neon pink nails and shopping than working in the Kazekage office.

"Ohayo, I am Haruno Sakura." The medic introduced, extending her hand for the teen to shake, getting an uninterested look and a gum's snapping in return. "I'm the Medic from Konoha…" She was hoping that she wouldn't have to go through this anymore, and the girls expression was grating on her nerves as the girl twirled her artificial colored hair and tapped around her unearthly large, again neon pink faux diamond earrings. _'At least she matches,'_ Sakura thought offhandedly, though she was quite annoyed. Withdrawing her unshaken hand, she finally got to the point. "I'm here to see Kazekage-sama."

Suddenly, the girl perked up with the mention of her teen leader. She straightened her posture and her glare changed from indifference to distaste as she finally answered, in an annoyingly slightly pitched, offending and defensive tone, "And why do you have to see Kazekage-sama?"

Her eyebrows rising and her expression turning amused, leaning back slightly, Sakura placed a hand on her hip and replied coolly, "I really wouldn't think that's any of your concern."

"And you would be right."

Both Medic and Bitc--Secretary turned to the hard voice of the Kazekage himself, standing in front of his office door with his arms crossed over his chest, as usual.

"K-k-k…"

"Kazekage-sama," Sakura said, finishing what the girl couldn't, bowing respectfully; knowing she should in front of the girl.

"Sakura, its five to seven, I expected you by at least eight to."

Sakura smiled a bit at the hidden humor. Then her eyes briefly flickered, meaningfully, to the now less confrontational secretary, and then back to Gaara, and smiled a bit sheepishly. "I had a little hold up, gomen-nasai."

Gaara nodded, also giving the secretary a flash of a look, before turning and proceeding into his office. "Sakura, I'm not very patient." He called over his shoulder, and Sakura smirked, following him into his office.

Closing the door behind her, Sakura turned to Gaara, who was sitting at his desk looking at her as he spoke, "Gomen, Sakura, she is obviously not my normal secretary, but a replacement. She is the normal secretary's daughter."

With a small laugh, Sakura replied, "I see you're not too fond of her."

Gaara gave his signature grunt and grumbled, "She is impossibly annoying; I can barely stand in the same room without trying to strangle her."

"Patience is a virtue, Gaara."

"Hn," he grunted, "A virtue in which I do not process."

Sakura smiled and replied, "But a virtue none the less."

"True, but punctuality is also a desirable quality." Gaara replied pointedly, his eyes turning down to a piece of paper on his desk and began to write on it. Sakura was beginning to enjoy witty banter with the Kazekage, though a small part of her, the more tempered side, felt a twinge of annoyance at his arrogance.

_It may be easy to pretend that I don't care,  
And maybe it wouldn't get no where (oh baby)_

"I'm not even five minutes late, but early and you still bring up the topic of punctuality!" Sakura laughed as Gaara opted for indifference, still not looking at her. Keeping up good cheers with Sabaku no Gaara was imperative to not trying to throw him out a window. At times, his charming arrogant demeanor really grates one's nerves, especially one pink-haired, Konoha Medic kunoichi with a short fused temper.

"Anyway, you know your schedule for today?"

Sakura nodded, returning to professional mode, "Hai, seven to noon, hospital; and one to four, medic class."

"Very well," Gaara nodded, still writing, "You may go. Come back tomorrow morning, _on time_," Sakura smirked and shook her head at _his_ impossibility, "as of now I have a lot of work to do." He dismissed, covering reluctance for the second time that day.

"Alright, but Gaara, I hardly think rewriting 'kumquat' all over than piece of paper qualifies as work." Seeing his pen stop suddenly stop, Sakura turned to leave and opening the door, she said, "Ja ne, Kazekage-sama."

'_How the hell…?'_

Chuckling to herself, Sakura closed the door to his office and walked past the secretary, surprisingly not getting any shit from her.

'**Cha! Go Gaara, he totally tamed the beast!'** Inner Sakura cheered, glaring at the girl.

'_Yeah, really! But I defiantly agree with him, I'm sure I couldn't be in the same room with her either without an assault charge put to my name.'_

'**Cha, what a bitch! She is some kind of fan girl!'**

'_Fan girl?'_ Sakura asked, finding it _very_ strange something that was in her mind knew about something she herself didn't

'**Hai, the girls that follow them around, just because they are hot or powerful or something are fan-girls. That's what he meant when he said she was impossibly annoying,'** Explained Inner Sakura, rolling her celestial eyes at "Outer Sakura's" ignorance.

'_Oh, yeah… That's so kawaii! Not the fan girls part and the annoying part, but Gaara has fan girls!! He certainly has come far.'_ Sakura found her self thinking that very often about Gaara in the past three days.

'**Well, he defiantly is worth fan girl-ism.'** The figment said suggestively.

Disregarding the somewhat perverted statement by her Inner, Sakura shushined to the hospital upon arriving at the door, as she was walking painstakingly slow while conversing with her Inner, then at the hospital, walked over to check in with Uki. She smiled at the blond haired receptionist, "Ohayo, Uki-san, gomen if I'm late."

"Oh ohayo, Sakura-san," Uki smiled, "Iie, iie, you're right on time actually! I'll ring Tori."

"No need, I'm already here." Tori said, upon walking up to the desk, "Ohayo, Sakura, happy to see you again."

Sakura nodded, "Ohayo, Tori, likewise."

"Well, lets get to work before we're accused of slacking off." Tori suggested, obviously referring to Dr. Hitimata, or Dr. Old Bitch. Speaking of her, Sakura had yet to see her, though that was defiantly not a complaint.

"Alright then, ja ne Uki-san," the Konoha Medic said as she followed Tori down the hall.

"Ja ne!"

Tori and Sakura walked down the long hall, passing many doctors and nurses who greeted them. "Tori, how is Chitimata-san?" Sakura asked as she remembered the patient from the day before, though it hardly seemed like it was only the day before.

"He has made a full recovery and will be returned home tomorrow!" Tori replied happily.

Nodding, the pink headed kunoichi said, "Good, good. I'm glad to hear. That was quite an extensive list of ailments he had."

With a sigh, Tori replied, "And that isn't even our worst." Sakura's expression was shocked as they approached a door with a seal on it at the very end of the hallway, the only one at the end. It was different then the rest apart from having the seal, white with a very small window apposed to light brown with a large window. After making a few hand signs Sakura wasn't paying attention to, Tori held the door open for her and closed it quickly after they both had entered the room.

There was only one bed and no plants, or visitor chairs, or anything to make the room feel more comfortable. What was also strange was that the machines that would normally surround the patient's bed had been placed as far from the bed as possible. On the contrary, jutsu seals surrounded the bed.

"We have no idea what's wrong with him." Tori explained, standing a cautious ten feet from the patient, "Physically, he has nothing wrong with him, but his chakra is going mad." Sakura walked up to beside the bed, seeing that black straps restrained the man to the bed, and Tori quickly pulled her back, "Iie, iie, when you go too close **he** goes mad and your chakra gets depleted! That's why he's tied up and why no one is allowed in here!!"

"Don't worry, let me look at him."

Unsurely, Tori released Sakura's arm and she once again stepped forward, "Onegai… be careful." Sakura nodded and extended her hand above the patient. As her normal, blue healing chakra began flowing, the man jolted and began thrashing in his confinements.

Sakura felt her chakra being drained from her, so she activated her keki-genki to try and salvage what she could. Amethyst chakra wrapped the thrashing shinobi is tendrils and penetrated his system. In her mind, Sakura could see clearly a black and green swirly chakra flowing in his chakra streams and the rest of his body.

Suddenly, it jolted and she was forced to retrieve her chakra from his body and his thrashing ceased. Deactivating her keki-genki, Sakura walked over to the medicine cabinet and table at the other end of the room, sensing Tori cautiously hovering behind her, waiting for an explanation.

"What is in this patient," Sakura began, picking up vials and reading the descriptions and mixing some together, "is what I call a chakra bug. You may know of it in its normal terms: a soul parasite, _what a huge difference from the name I came up with_." The last part of her sentence was grumbled. She specifically remembered the scolding she got from her sensei for adapting from the name in which she created.

Tori gasped, though it wasn't at the other Medic's sarcasm, "What—that's, serious! How are we going to treat that?"

"Calm down. I think I can use a jutsu with my keki-genki… but I've never really tried it before…" Upon seeing the shocked expression on her comrade's expression, blatantly ignoring it, Sakura turned towards the patient. She began building up her chakra, readying it for her task.

'_I hope I can do this.'_ Convincing Tori she was confident was one thing, but convincing herself another.

'**You're not going to get anywhere with that attitude! Hell yeah you can do it!'** Though Inner Sakura's optimism was a confidence booster, the Medic had to fight hard to keep the reality of which attempting performing this jutsu was. The rate in which the air was closing around her as her chakra was being rapidly pushed to the surface was raising her stress level, and she knew Tori could easily sense the change in her chakra.

In all blatant truth, only someone, who was of her own level, completely foolish or overly arrogant, would attempt the jutsu. It required an intensive knowledge of the way in which the chakra streams and blood streams and organs; not to mention faultless chakra control in which to weave chakra through said places. Sakura had to literally enter his body with her chakra, not just send some in as if she were healing a wound, keeping half her senses out of him incase she would have to retract herself immediately.

To cut a long story short, it was a fucking-tricky-piece-of-shit jutsu. She knew it, Tori knew it, and the air that was condensing around her lungs knew it.

Approaching the bed, the patient already thrashing, with activated keki-genki, Sakura took a deep, relaxing breath. If she fucked this up, the man in front of her could lose his life. If she managed to pull it off… well alright then. Her chakra was all ready, the only left in her would be enough to sustain her if something drastic were to happen. The jutsu was dangerous and difficult, but not to the patient in the same aspect as to the shinobi. If it didn't work, the patient would die in a matter of days with no further treatment. If it didn't work, the medic performing the jutsu would die in a matter of seconds.

The last thing she saw before amethyst took over her vision was sand whipping around the air, the last thing she felt before a numbing, tingling, high was sand sliding over her skin…

Gaara had felt it the second it began. He felt it quickly accumulating, getting stronger, all the way in his Kazekage office. He didn't know what was going on but he did know what it would take to rid himself of the annoyance in front of him in order to go find out what was going on. A simple flick of his wrist and a quick snap of the man's neck that was standing before him was all it took, as it always was. All it ever took was that flick of the wrist.

He hadn't given that flick, that life ending flick, though. Quickly leaving, without so much as an excuse for himself, Gaara transported to the hospital, picking up her scent and chakra like water was being poured over him. Again transporting, this time to the room in which she was in, Gaara saw her arms extend over a man lying, thrashing, on a hospital table and her eyes and chakra turn a mysterious amethyst. She was using her keki-genki, he figured, but this conclusion didn't stop his sand from nervously shifting about the room.

The other Medic, who wasn't important to him, was standing on the very other side of the room; her hands over her mouth and her eyes wide with shock. Only did she move when we started to walk around the bed to approach Sakura, "Iie! Kazekage-sama! Sakura is performing a very difficult, and dangerous, jutsu and it is vital you not approach either her or Yamuko-san, the patient!"

The Kazekage paused as directed; his eyes narrowed into angry slits, though nothing other than that signified his emotions to the Suna Medic. He would have to wait until Sakura had finished with her jutsu to speak with her. By the look of the Suna kunoichi and Sakura herself, the jutsu she was performing wasn't the normal Medic healing technique. This could be a while.

He growled lowly, settling himself leaning against the wall. Hell knew he wasn't keen with waiting.

The high feeling was positively exhilarating. Dividing her mind into chakra, separating in order to weave through the patients body harmlessly felt like flying without the constant pull of gravity one felt while running through the trees.

With the black mass before her, Sakura braced herself for the climax of her jutsu. The chakra that was readied before entering Yamuko's body slithered over his blood and chakra streams, forcing the black tendrils inside back to its core. Amethyst mixed with blue-green chakra surrounded the mass, and immediately the thing was threatened. It shot out against the walls surrounding it is a feral attempt to free itself. Focusing on fortifying her chakra as well as keeping herself in the half physical state she was is, Sakura struggled to close the chakra around the black mass. Shooting more chakra into the circle surrounding the parasite, Sakura was able to begin squeezing the parasite to non existence.

Finally, after much stressful concentration, the parasite was gone. With no time for celebration of the almost completion of her jutsu, Sakura felt her chakra begin to drastically weaken. If she didn't have enough chakra to pull out of Yamuko's body, her body would collapse from chakra depletion and it would kill both her and Yamuko. Her resolve was, no matter how hard or painful it was for her, pull out of Yamuko's body through his skin, making a small wound that could be easily healed up later. Not matter what, there was no way she was giving up and disappointing Tsunadae, Naruto, Kakashi, Arina, and even Gaara. She would prove she wasn't just the weak little girl that jumped in front of him on his rampage in the Chuunin Exams.

Finally, after much torturous waiting, the patient's pasty skin seemed to slowly become normal and he ceased thrashing. Gaara pushed himself off the wall and walked around the steel bed, standing a cautious five or six foot length away from the Medic. He saw the chakra flow in her hands stop and he wasn't sure if that was good or bad. The whole time he was against the wall waiting, he found himself feeling yet another foreign emotion: worry. Of course, he felt anxiety when his siblings or Arina was wounded or on a mission, but he found it incomparable with the unease that settled into his gut upon seeing Sakura standing in a comatose like state; performing a jutsu he knew nothing about when he was as helpless to help her as the patient she was healing. Perhaps he just had more confidence in Temari, Kankurou, and Arina's abilities as apposed to Sakura's. That didn't make much sense though, as he knew from Naruto she was strong, and the fact she was the Godaime Hokage's apprentice, the best Medic in the world. Again, he found any emotion she aroused from him confused him to no end. He was really beginning to miss his emotionless mind, though he was content it hadn't quite seemed to seep though his normal demeanor not including the random moments he lost control around the pastel pink haired teen.

Sakura's vision wavered, as did she, when she was finally out of Yamuko's body. Her vision was clouded with spots and the sides were slowly dimming, threatening to over take her whole vision. Subconsciously, she felt something shifting around her waist. Before she finally passes out from chakra depletion, Sakura failed to see the angry redhead at her side as she slumped into the sand.

_**Go forth and Review.**_


	7. Chapter 7: Counting the Voices

**Not for the sensitive ears. There's a lot of cursing in this chapter.**

**Excuse the character's French if you will.**

_Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I really want you to know I appreciate it and I'm sorry if I didn't respond to your last one. I always like to thank you for reading, reviewing, story alerting, or favoring but sometimes I don't have the time when I get the review, story alert, ect. So I forget when I do have the time. So sorry._

A good song besides Should I Tell Her to listen to on repeat while reading this chapter is:

Falling in the Black- Skillet

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own Should I Tell Her. All I own is Arina and that bug that just died on the floor… okay so I don't own it but really who will stop me? 

Should Tell Her?

Chapter 7

_Sakura's vision wavered, as did she, when she was finally out of Yamuko's body. Her vision was clouded with spots and the sides were slowly dimming, threatening to over take her whole vision. Subconsciously, she felt something shifting around her waist. Before she finally passed out from chakra depletion, Sakura failed to see the angry redhead at her side as she slumped into the sand._

The world spun as blackened vision brightened and became colorful, blurry vision. Familiar red, orange, tan, and black were dimmed in awareness apposed to the florescent lights beaming mercilessly on dilating pupils. Sight was a dim sense compared to hearing and her swirling, albeit broken up thoughts.

**Beep**_**, **__hospital_, **beep,** _soul parasite_, **beep**, _jutsu,_ **beep,** **beep**_, keki-genki_, **beep**, **beep, beep**, _sand_, **beep, beep, beep**, _red_**, beep, beep, beep, beep**, _Gaara?!_!

"Sakura-chan?!" Shrill, screeching, annoying, piercing, concerned- Naruto.

"Arina?" Deep, husky, throaty, hoarse, demanding- Gaara.

"Her heart rate is increasing; I think she's waking up!" Fast, smooth, fluent, definite, calm- Arina.

"Hell, it's about time. But what the hell is wrong with her, she's freaking the hell out!" ….-Kankurou, the bastard.

"She's having hysterics, maybe you should slap her!" ….-Temari, always nice to have her undying support.

Floating on the sea in between consciousness and unconsciousness, Sakura was dimly aware and impressed of her ability to locate whose statement was whose and her ability to create sarcastic comments for each as well. She was also dimly aware of the gasping that had triggered the voices of her friends; thought who the sounds originated was a mystery to her.

"Sakura, Sakura, can you hear me?" Again the voice was fluent, though slower and gentler, and smooth, indicating Arina as the speaker.

"Mm," The girl teetering on unconsciousness had no idea where the grunt like sound came from. Obviously, it was not Arina, far too soft to be Gaara, or any other, due to the closeness of the sound.

'_Oh…was that me?'_

'**Wake up, Blossom.'** …Deep, throaty, ancient, definite, demanding of respect, with the softest, lightest stroke of gentleness- Defiantly _not_ Inner Sakura.

Her eyes focused immediately and a scream ripped her throat as she violently sat up, holding her head and hunching over. It felt as if her body was hollow and her mind was consuming her being. It was like falling and not feeling or hearing the wind rushing past her; instead she was watching herself fall from a distance then slowly fade into black nothingness. She felt as if her mind was being forcefully ripped from her body and her body went cold and numb. Though she couldn't feel physically, her mind was still capable of thought, not quite coherent and rationally thought, but thought none the less.

'_WHAT THE HELL?! WHO ARE YOU?! WHY… WHY THE HELL ARE YOU IN MY HEAD!!?!?!'_

'**Hush now, Blossom, calm yourself.'**

Another scream, numbing her senses and awareness of anything physical as all her attention was set on the strange voice that was **defiantly in her head**.

'_Who… who are you?! Am… am I crazy or something…?'_ She thought, though she numbly thought in the back of her head that she had been hearing a voice in her head all her life, albeit a familiar one.

'**Calm, now, you will learn everything you need in due time, Blossom.'**

Allowing a shuddering breath past her lips, Sakura decided to comply with the… voice inside her head's soft command. She looked up and saw the look on Arina's face. Her eyes were distant, her expression shocked, and her shoulders rigid, along with the rest of her small body.

Sakura then realized her bed was flanked by people, four exactly; though how she did so shocked her, as it wasn't with sight or touch. Fruity and energized, fresh and sweet, light and slightly burning, and musky and sandalwood scents all caught her attention at once. "Sakura-chan, what's wrong?! Sakura-chan?" "What the hell is wrong, you okay?!" "Are you alright?! Anything hurt?!" "**Sa. Ku. Ra**."

The last defiantly caught her attention more so than the rest. It sounded almost like a growl, or a hoarse, clipped, throaty gasp. Her eyes, unfocused again, managed to focus enough for her to realize the worried expressions three of her friends wore, and the one of pain washing away still slightly apparent anger the other did.

"G...Ga…Gaa…ra?" The frenzied pink hair girl murmured, wincing at her stuttering. She could tell, by the expressions of both Arina and Gaara, they knew something about the (extra) voice in her head.

_Could she be just as scared  
Cause it kills me not to know (killing me inside)_

The other three stopped their questioning and glanced at Gaara who was hunched and leaning at the footboard of the hospital bed. His heavy breathing jerked his back and his hand gripped at his faded blood colored locks while his knuckles turned white.

"Oh… Kami…" Arina murmured, coming out of whatever stupor she was in.

"Arina," growled Gaara, looking at her through his hair which was falling in front of his eyes, "how the fucking hell is this possible?!"

"I…I don't… know, Gaara. I just _don't know_." Arina whispered, looking at Sakura's curled up form as the girl in turn looked back at her with wide, confused eyes.

"What the hell?! What's going on here?!" Naruto shouted, not able to stand the feeling in his gut of not knowing what was going on… at this particular moment, anyway, when his friend seemed scared and in danger. Every other second of his life, the out of the loop feeling was fine.

Gaara's head snapped to the orange clad shinobi and his biological siblings. "Get out." He growled.

"But Gaara-" Temari's protest was interrupted. "Get. Out. Now." He growled through clenched teeth. The three obliged, warily and grudgingly, not wanting to increase Gaara's seemingly enraged or pained mood… or both.

The clicking of the door shut was like a trigger setting off a gun. Instantaneously, Gaara was at Sakura's side, grasping her face in between his palms to hold her still and staring at her through narrowed eyes. The proximity caused Sakura's breath to hitch and the emotion exploding on his face and in his eyes caused her body to shake even more.

"Can you hear me?" The Kazekage whispered hoarsely. The reply from a pink haired teen was a slight nod, as she didn't trust her voice not to shake, like the tremors running up and down her body.

'…**Sakura… can you hear me?'** Arina spoke slowly in her mind, gently as to not startle the teen.

"…_hai_," she whispered softly, warm breath startling Gaara as it blew over his chin. Her shaking began to recede, allowing Gaara a softer hold on her face.

'**Alright-,'** Arina started again in her mind, only to be cut off by a loud, deep shout… or bark, from the same mind. **'GET OUT NOW!!! GET OUT! I'LL KILL YOU! DO YOU HEAR ME?! GET OUT!'**

Sakura screamed again as a sharp pain exploded in her head; Arina gasped as her own mind was forcefully pushed from Sakura's. Gaara's hold on her face tightened again as she screamed and shook.

Upon feeling herself tugged back into her subconscious, Sakura clutched onto Gaara's arms, instinctively trying to hold onto reality… afraid of the… apparently more than just a voice in her head.

'**Blossom…'** the voice was darker than before, and the way he spoke was more possessive and sadistic than just the husky, throaty whispering of before.

'_Who are you? Why do you keep calling me that? How did you get Arina out of my mind… and why did you?'_ Her mind exploded with questions, barely leaving any time between them for the answers she was desperate for.

'**Kuku kuku,'** the animalistic sound, as she wasn't sure just what it was, sent more tremors through her, **'Blossom, my Blossom, you ask too many questions.'**

'_You're. In. My. Fucking. HEAD! I have a fucking RIGHT to know who the hell you are, at least!!'_ Sakura exploded, her patience fully stretched to the limit and then snapped like an old rubber band.

'**Hn, alright my little fiery Blossom, if you are so interested in my identity then I will tell you,'** false relief flooded through her after this statement, only to be diminished by the next, **'but I'm afraid you won't like it. Kuku kuku.'**

'_Just… just tell me dammit!'_

Ignoring the statement, the voice finally answered her question, '**I am the one-tailed Ichibi, the Tankui Shukaku.'**

Sakura was momentarily too shocked for coherent thought, speech… or coherent anything for that matter. _'…Na…nan….NANI?!'_

"…Na…nan….NANI?!"

"Arina, get him OUT of HER!!" Gaara growled, still staring at Sakura's changing expressions through her face and distant eyes. First, there was fear, then desperation, then anger, then slight relief, and then finally shock and disbelief mixed with fear in a disturbing brew.

"Gaara, I can't! He won't even let me in there!" Arina cried in response, slipping over to Gaara's side,

"Nani?!" Gaara's eyes widened, looking down to the shaking kunoichi's face in his hands.

"Hai, he is too protective of his _mate_." Arina's replied quietly, knowing this information would upset Gaara. And upset Gaara it did.

"She is NOT HIS FUCKING MATE!!!" The yell must've been heard through the hospital. His breathing was so heavy his whole body heaved with effort to pass oxygen into his lungs and his grip on Sakura's face tightened to the point of pain, which said teen cried out in.

Naruto pounded on the door, "What the hell is going on in there?!"

Arina's voice entered his mind, '**Naruto, calm down, we don't need you guys panicking too. We'll handle this, everything's… under control.'** The Mind Reader lied, hoping to sooth the tense, heavy aura in the room.

Hearing no response from the blonde shinobi, Arina decided the message was across and slipped into Gaara's mind. Immediately, she made him let of go Sakura, and the girl slumped into his chest. The white eyed kunoichi then put his breathing under control. Once he was back to normal, physically anyway, she probed for any trace of the Ichibi.

'**Shukaku, where are you hiding?'**

She got a growl in reply **'…Arina.'**

'_You __**sick fucking bastard**__, get out of Sakura __**NOW.**__'_ Gaara's snarling thoughts were surprisingly controlled, albeit clipped and graphic, but controlled none the less.

'…_Gaara…Arina?'_ Sakura thought hesitantly, her soft voice cutting off any rebuttal from Shukaku.

'**Hai, Sakura, it's us.'** Arina replied for the both of them.

'_Gaara… why is… Shukaku-'_

'_It doesn't matter. He just needs to get out.'_ Gaara growled in reply, making Sakura give a wince at his tone.

_Easy to pretend that I don't care  
And maybe it wouldn't get no where_

'**Boy, I will protect my mate, what happened will not again.'** The Ichibi finally spoke up; his seemingly simple statement brought slight realization, more confusion, and more anger from the three linked minds. **'I don't find that sick.'**

'_When you scare the hell out of her and she has no idea what the __**fuck is going on**__, it's sick.'_ Gaara replied coolly, then confronted to the first part of Shukaku's explanation, _**'She. Is. Not. Your. Mate.'**_

'**Right, protect **_**our **_**mate.'** Shukaku revised.

"Gaara, what is… he talking about?" Sakura whispered, her eyes focusing, yet again, onto Gaara's face. "What's going on?" There were too many questions in Sakura's mind for her to create coherency with them in the form of sentences. She opted for the simplest one.

Being best friends with the Kyuubi vessel for all those years, Sakura had a basic knowledge of demonology and jinchuuriku. Even with just basic knowledge, she knew jinchuuriku couldn't just jump from mind to mind. There was a reason they were sealed with such powerful jutsu into a person. It wasn't so they could do gallivanting around in other people's minds, she was positive.

Sea foam eyes focused again though did not leave their stare at the pink haired medic's shoulder as Arina fluttered to Gaara's side.

"Sakura, there is so much to explain. But for now, you need sleep to rebuild your chakra." Arina said slowly, keeping her voice down as to not startle Gaara, who was still, unmoving, holding onto Sakura's shoulders.

Sakura argued, though even through her will her fatigue was still painstakingly apparent, "Iie, Arina, tell me now. There's an extra voice in my head and I don't know why or what he wants… or… what he's talking about… or…… why he's…. there…" She then proceeded to black out, having not noticed the pale hand encased in blue chakra that caused her to do so placed on her leg.

Running a hand lightly over her back, Arina whispered, "Gomen-nasai, Sakura, it was for your own good." Inwardly rolling her eyes, Arina knew how cliché that sounded but seemed to work at the current situation. **'Damn, it's like this is all some cliché made up story by some hopeless romantic chick or some chick that needs a better way of expressing her moods.'** Deciding to stop mulling over such ludicrous ideas, Arina focused on Gaara and the passed out girl sprawled in his arms.

"Gaara," she murmured, receiving no response but knowing he had heard, "she needs to sleep."

His eyes widened, "Arina!" he whispered franticly, his panicked eyes flying down to Sakura, "What if Shukaku tries to get out…?!"

"I doubt he will… he wouldn't risk her like that. He's connected himself with her because he wants to protect her. I'm thinking the only side effect she'll experience besides hearing his voice is an increase in senses like your own…"

The panicked Kage snarled, "Your _thinking_?!"

"Hai, Gaara, I can only offer you my theories as I have never experienced this before and I have never read about it before." Arina hissed in reply, "But I don't think you have anything to worry about her health or well being."

As he calmed slowly, Arina placed her hand on his shoulder and squeezed very softly, "Come on, lets let her sleep and I'll help you figure this out."

"Iie, I'm staying." As she was about to argue he continued, "Use the books from the Kazekage library… though I'm missing one…" His eyes became distant upon remembering his dilemma from the morning.

"Gaara…" her unsure voice made him snap a sharp glance at her, which also silenced her of her argument. "Alright… I'll inform the hospital… and your siblings and the poor blonde baka too."

As the door clicked shut, two things occurred. Muffled shouts of question and that of pain when the person to emit the prior was hit on the head pounded through the door. And Gaara sat on the hospital bed cross legged, pulling the passed out kunoichi into his chest and sprawled half way on his lap, with her face nestled into his chest and her legs bent at the knee curled up atop and nested on his crossed, Indian style, legs. Her arms curled with her upper body into his chest, her mind unconsciously embracing his warmth.

He leaned back onto the headboard, carefully wrapping his arms gently around Sakura as not to awake her. While slipping into meditation in sync with her steady breathing, Gaara thought, _'It must be so overwhelming… so… frightening for her… Why does everything I come to like in my life suffer because of me?'_

Temari and Kankurou suffered the early years of their lives fearing their own brother, though he didn't care at the time, Gaara could only remember his own morbid thoughts and actions of his childhood.

Arina suffered her whole life because of his mere existence. It was true that she was created to control him, and differently because he was abnormal to say the absolute least. All her life she unwillingly heard the thoughts of all those around her, the darkest, more morbid, the most sinister and those of the people who were happy and content in the way she could never be due to the latter peoples' minds. Only when she learned to generally control it did she gain most of her sanity back.

Naruto suffered having an emotionally void best friend. They were good sparring partners and listened to each other's problems regarding technique difficulties and who Naruto wanted to beat the crap out of next, but when Naruto mentioned anything about the shy Hyuuga heiress Gaara could offer him no conversation, advice, or comfort.

Now he was making Sakura suffer, in more ways than one. Even before, he was fairly sure all of his uncontrollable actions and fluctuating moods towards her were causing her some discontent or un comfort. Then that damn Sand Demon had to infiltrate her mind, her privacy, and scare the living hell out of her. Sure it was to "protect" her as the Bijuu had claimed, but how is she to know that? To understand any needed protection from what? The Kazekage also knew how incredibly selfish he was for not stopping his growing feelings and thoughts that revolved around her. But what exactly was she thinking?

Damn his lack of human skills.

Damn the demon.

Damn his feelings.

Damn it all.

_Could she be just as scared  
Cause it kills me not to know (…kills me not to know)_

If there was one thing Sabaku no Gaara hated… it was not being in control. The majority of the beginning years of his life, he had not been in control, as the Bijuu was. Thus for that duration of time, he had the most morbid reason for his survival, as he hated life but had no control over it to end it. But once he had learned to deal with that, he had the reigns of his life tightly gripped in his hands… that was until about a week ago when he learned the two Konoha shinobi he valued most were coming to Suna. The reigns snapped and his life stampeded out of control.

'_Then the Hell Damned horse fell in a fucking ditch.'_ He thought disdainfully, then looked down to the pink head, _'Hit its head, broke its leg, then Sakura came and healed the fucker… then it kicked me in the face…'_

A soft whimper reminded him of his hard clench on Sakura's pink hair as his thoughts became more distressed. He loosened the hold and suppressed the rage which was different to that of when Sakura had passed out earlier.

The Kazekage's eyes tightened. During the time of the pink head's unconsciousness, Arina had explained to him the technique said unconscious girl had performed. How could she have been so stupid as to perform such a dangerous technique with no back up medical team?

Was it even possible that she really had such a low level of self perseveration?

Perhaps that explained the bizarre ease she expressed with being around him. It made sense.

Though it also made sense that perhaps she was just bizarre, it explained her constantly cheery demeanor…. and she was friends with Naruto. Though being friends with Naruto wasn't very hard due to the hyper blonde's outgoing and friendly nature.

Gaara inwardly groaned and let his head fall back against the headboard with a dull thud once more. Now did not seem like the best time to attempt to figure out the confusion that took form of a girl that was Haruno Sakura. He felt Sakura shift her face and nuzzle his chest as if he were a warm pillow, murmuring lowly, so lowly Shukaku would've had to strain his senses to pick it up had his vessel wanted to.

Non existent eyebrows rose and his eyes moved down to her head, _'I wasn't aware I was her teddy bear.'_ He thought dryly.

'**Well you are so you can get used to enjoying it.'** Shukaku said, though there was no mockery in his dark voice.

'_Why is it that you allow her to use me as a pillow though to anyone else who had the vaguest thought of coming near me you wish to tear apart?'_

Shukaku barked a laugh, **'It is true I do wish for her blood.'**

At this, Gaara became confused, and frustrated, _'That doesn't make any sense you bastard rodent.'_

'**Ah… I just wish for it in a different way then that of normal bloodlust.'**

'…_How… so?'_

Another barked laugh sounded at his vessel's hesitance, **'Though I am more then capable, I do not wish to just take her forcefully, I-,'**

'_By her you mean her blood.'_ Gaara snarled in correction, though in that quick second in which he corrected the demon in, it didn't quite occur to him that taking her blood was immensely bad as well.

'**Iie, so shut up and listen to the answer to your question you insolent boy,'** Gaara scowled but complied, wishing to understand the demon, **'I wish for her to give herself to me.'**

Gaara was confused again at this,_ 'Submission?'_ That didn't make much sense; submission would imply weakness and Shukaku would never want a weak mate.

'**Iie, of her personal will.'**

Gaara scoffed, _'since when have you care about the will of humans, demon?'_

'**I care about her will.'**

'_Why,'_ he demanded, growing agitated of the vague answers he was receiving.

'**She is my mate, or will be.'** Shukaku clarified, not giving time for the usual argument on Gaara's part, **'A demon has a service to their mate, like the responsibility you feel to your pathetic little village of morons.' **Gaara scowled at the insult to his village but remained quiet,** 'If he fails to fulfill that service or responsibility and makes his mate unhappy, he has to see his mate unhappy and it will make him miserable.'**

'_Are you implying demons have more cares then blood and war?'_ Gaara asked, shocked at the demon's calm explanation.

'**Their mates only, boy,'** Shukaku responded gruffly, as he slowly drifted further away into Gaara's subconscious.

Gaara looked down at the pink head resting on his chest. "Sakura, I'm sorry I've dragged you into this." he rested his hand atop her head and let hit slide down over her hair and onto her shoulder, and repeated the motion peacefully.

"I don't want him to hurt you, but I can't stop him if he tries to through me.

"But Sakura, I don't think his true intentions are to hurt you." He continued to muse to the sleeping girl for a reason he did not know of, "Or at least he doesn't think of it as hurting you.

"The last thing I want is for you to fear me. And I don't want to add anything more troubling to your thoughts." He sighed.

"What I am unsuccessfully trying to say… even though you can't understand me… I'm more than sorry for all of this."

"It's… okay… Gaara….-kun…" She murmured sleepily; his eyes widened and his hand stopped its soothing motion. She sighed in her sleep and shifted her face into his chest, "You… stopped… Gaara-kun?" Her words were muffles as she uttered against his chest in her sleep, as if what she said was a real question.

The only thing he could ask himself as she silently returned to her un-talkative sleeping state, _'….kun?'_

Well that was a new one for the rapidly increasing books of things he didn't understand about Sakura. Though, what he didn't know was, there was a whole separate library.

This library contained the also rapidly increasing books of things Sakura did not understand about him…

_**Go forth and Review.**_


	8. Chapter 8: The Damn Cold

_Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I really want you to know I appreciate it and I'm sorry if I didn't respond to your last one. I always like to thank you for reading, reviewing, story alerting, or favoring but sometimes I don't have the time when I get the review, story alert, ect. So I forget when I do have the time. So sorry._

A good song besides Should I Tell Her to listen to on repeat while reading this chapter is:

Decode- Paramore

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own Should I Tell Her. All I own is Arina and that bug that just died on the floor… okay so I don't own it but really who will stop me? 

Should Tell Her?

Chapter

_The only thing he could ask himself as she silently returned to her un-talkative sleeping state, '….kun?'_

_Well that was a new one for the rapidly increasing books of things he didn't understand about Sakura. Though, what he didn't know was, there was a whole separate library._

_This library contained the also rapidly increasing books of things Sakura did not understand about him…_

She woke to steady thrumming of a heartbeat, gentle rhythm of a pulse, and soft breathing, none of which included her own. Blinking lazily, she adjusted to the light and in her sight was maroon fabric. Sakura's hearing adjusted to the heartbeat just next to her ear. Warmth of approximately 96 degrees Fahrenheit surrounded her skin that seeped through the maroon fabric. The breathing was just a half a second off sync with her own.

Sakura went rigid. _'How do I know all this?'_ Her head began to ache as her senses pumped information into her mind. Once the ache had reduced to a dull throb with the use of some chakra, Sakura realized what could possibly be 96 degrees, breathe, and have a heartbeat.

**Who** was she **lying on**?! Controlling her panic, she carefully raised her head as to not awake the person who was apparently sleeping. She caught sight of hanging maroon hair and she immediately recognized who she was lying on.

'_Sweet Kami… Gaara?!'_ She felt and heard her heartbeat accelerate. Her legs were curled up in his lap and she was leaning into his chest. One of her arms was settled in between her chest and his; her other was lazily placed on his shoulder and her hand curled around his neck.

Closing her eyes tightly, she inwardly sighed, _'How to get myself out of this one…?'_ The medic decided to test how light or heavy a sleeper he was.

Taking a quiet deep breath, she froze. Her senses picked up his scent that was like tidal wave hitting her full on. It was musky-like sandalwood scent she couldn't really categorize. It had a certain amount of the same fragrance that one smells in the desert air. All she knew was that it seemed just so _him _like. Not too strong, but strong enough to catch her attention. Closing her eyes, she regained her resolve and self control.

Raising her hand slowly and carefully, she placed her hand lightly on his neck. When he didn't react, she thought it was safe to move her hand with a little more pressure up his neck and onto his jaw.

He still didn't react, _'good,'_ she thought. Sliding her fingers across his chin, she hesitated under his lips.

Restricted territory.

Avert mission…? Her fingers slid down his chin as she thought about this.

Hell no. She needed to get herself out of this situation before her suckish luck decided to rear its ugly head even more so and he woke up.

Recovered from her falter, she moved her fingers over his cheek. She slid her fingers up until they were just under his temple and cupped his cheek with enough pressure that his head turned slightly to her left. Closed, kohl outlined eyes twitched, and her breath hitched as she froze.

Limits pressed?

Yes.

Limits snapped?

No, he continued to sleep soundly.

She slid her hand up his face, tracing her fingers over his forehead. Carefully placing her palm on his scar, Sakura felt the indentation of the kanji. It was enough to make her move her hand into his hair.

Dancing her fingers threw his spiky locks of long scarlet hair, Sakura's lips curved up. They were as soft as they looked- maybe softer. She ran her hand down the back of his head and through the loose hair hanging at his neck.

As the pink headed teen pressed her fingers skillfully into the back of his scalp, a hitched breath blew from his lips. Staring at his otherwise unmoving expression, she moved her fingers back up to the top of his head.

Sakura smiled in amusement as her hand pushed his spikes in awkward directions. She then moved her hand down the side of his head through his hair, experimentally pressuring her fingers as she did so.

Lifting her other hand from in between their chests, she raised her hand to trace along his face.

Sakura was lost the second her hand made contact with his face while her hand still played with his hair. As she stared as his closed kohl eyes, her hand moved on its own accord to the dark skin. Apparently heightened senses dully picked up an increasing heartbeat, though if it was her own she was unaware in her distracted state. Her fingers brushed lighter against his skin as she moved them down his cheek, as she had forgotten her original goal. She imagined the gorgeous pale sea foam eyes behind the kohl and leaned forward in her stupor. He was just… _beautiful_?

Her nose brushed against his. His breath hitched and she felt him stiffen.

It was then she realized something that was so incredibly obvious her thoughts weren't wasted on it, but instead,

'_Holy shit, since when does Gaara sleep?'_

Inner Sakura thought now was a good time to chime in, **'He doesn't.'**

It was then her movements jerked, and if he was sleeping (which she now realized he didn't) he sure as hell wouldn't be after that. She gasped and slid off his lap, landing awkwardly sitting against his thigh with her legs sprawled on his lap and her arms grabbing the edge of the hospital bed behind her holding herself up.

His eyes had snapped open at the sudden movement and he stared at her with an expression she couldn't identify. Chest heaving with shock, she stared open-mouthed at the inquisitive looking Kazekage in front of her. Well, not exactly in **front **being she was still half way** sprawled** on his **lap**.

Scrambling, she didn't realize she was on the very edge of the bed before he had reached out and grabbed her to prevent her from falling. Sakura was tugged back onto his lap even closer to him than before just because she had forgotten one of the most basic things Tsunadae had taught her. Never lose your bearings in battle. Though of course this situation was far from any battle she had ever fought in the physical aspect, she felt it applied well with the mental **battle** of it.

Long story short, her mind was in chaotic turmoil.

And he! He was just **sitting **there **staring **at her! Couldn't he do **something** other than staring at her with the eyes she had just been fantasizing about-

'_Damn it no!'_

Couldn't he do **something** other than staring at her like she had spontaneously sprouted five more eyes (although in his defense, it must've been quite a sight to see the renowned Konoha medic nin to be flustered, straddling his lap, and gaping at him) or something! Not moving an **inch** with his hands on her waist and his arms resting on her legs, it didn't help that her senses picked up _everything_-

'_Son of a bitch,__** no**__!'_

Gaara was now looking at her with wider, even more curious eyes.

_Should I let her know I'm really in love  
And that she's the one I been thinking of._

She should rip the damn things out! But she couldn't… **damn **him for having such beautiful eyes! The bastard…

His lips quirked ever so slightly, though the expression of curiosity in his eyes did not change. What was that…? Was he… was _that bastard_… smirking…?

A feral growl rose from her throat that ripped through her teeth and passed her lips.

The smirk grew, and this time the amusement reached his eyes. Son… of a… **Bitch**.

Sakura was pissed. She lunged.

Gaara was surprised. He tumbled.

The bed with wheels really wasn't made for a pissed off power-house in the form of a girl trying to strangle one of the most powerful shinobi in the world, Suna's Kazekage. It showed. The bed jerk and both shinobi we sent hurdling to the floor in a mass of sand and feminine growling.

They landed with Sakura pining Gaara's shoulders down, straddling his torso and using her legs to keep him relatively still.

He stared up at her with wide eyes. She grinned in victory.

Hell no.

Admittedly, he cheated a little. But he really didn't give a damn. He had her pinned- that's what was important. So he used is sand to do so, whatever, just a technicality.

Gaara was leaning over her, smirking again. Her arms were pinned to her sides and he was straddling her waist, his slightly longer legs affectively keeping hers together, so she couldn't use her legs to flip over. By his calculations she had no way to move. He was wrong, but, luckily, he heard all the information he needed in order to keep her pinned. Maybe he was enjoying this a bit too much… the frustrated look on her face… or her hair that was spread on the floor… or the way her lip jut out in thought… Whatever, they were just technicalities.

_Women of my dreams ain't no one above her,  
Should I tell her.._

'_Move my arm slightly to the right, I can reverse his hold and flip him over…'_ She tried to do so a second too late as he had taken her arms and pinned them above her head. _'Damn it!'_

'_Alright, new strategy…'_ Sakura attempted to lift her torso off the ground to loosen his hold on her legs, but he simply lean forward and pressed her back flat against the floor. She snarled in frustration. Why were they even doing this? Well, she got pissed off, lost her temper, and now was too stubborn to lose whatever the hell it was they were doing.

'_Last chance…'_ She crossed her ankles and attempted to push her knees off to propel him forward and off her, but he simply slid his legs lower to her knees.

'_Damn him… I can't be that predictable… it's like he can hear what I'm thinking!'_

He lowered his face next to hers, his mouth by her ear, "That's because I can."

Jade eyes widened and a gasp sucked through her teeth, _'WHAT?!'_

Gaara nodded, climbing off her and allowing her to sit up, "Shukaku linked our minds, and I can hear all your thoughts." He kept his face impassive as he waited for her reaction.

Realization was accompanied by the far off look in her eyes.

She then paled. It had sunken in. There was a monster inside her head, hearing every thought and-

"You bastard," Anger, he half expected that, "Why can you hear my thoughts but I can't hear yours!" Sakura then began pouting, "So not fair."

After realizing the Kazekage was just _staring_ at her now, she gave him a look, "What?"

"…"

"What damn it?!" The medic snapped crossing her arms.

"I tell you there is a demon inside your mind that is linking our thoughts and your concern is why you can't hear my thoughts?" This was probably the first time she heard sheer disbelief in his voice (and one of the longest continuous sentences she heard from him). Though, it was mixed with some kind of angry emotion. Perhaps it was frustration.

"I'm also concerned to why I'm supersensitive to everything," she defended, her chin titling up ever so slightly, "But yes, I am."

His forehead wrinkled as if he was raising his eyebrows, as if he were blessed with such, "Supersensitive?"

Sakura opened her mouth, but she was just frozen for a moment in thought, and after the moment, she closed her mouth and shook her head. "I can't explain it, and I don't think you'd understand anyway."

Gaara frowned. If she meant what he thought she meant, there was no way in hell for him not to understand. "Try harder," he said hoarsely, receiving a half-hearted glare, though she complied anyway.

Studying her face, he was slightly intrigued by the unique expression she wore while concentrating. Her lips then began to move and he gave her his attention, instead of just staring at her, "It's like… I can feel, and I know, all these things… facts really, about everything in the room." Jade eyes glanced at him, "Like how I know your body heat is 96.2 degrees instead of 98.6 and how I can hear your pulse and…" She the shook her head, "I'm just insane."

The Kazekage just sighed almost silently and shook his head, "No, it's because of Shukaku. I can feel those things too…" The way he was now staring at her caused her to shift in her position sitting next to him on the floor.

"Really?" Sakura leaned towards him, interested, until, that is, she realized she had pressed the contact limit with the Kazekage already. Sure, being casual was perfectly fine for friends, like they were, but do to the fact he was the Kazekage and she was the visiting-nin, things were getting a little too informal.

Straightening her back, she remembered all the questions that had been racing the night before, she picked the most basic, "Gaara… how is this possible? How is Shukaku in my head _and_ yours?"

Gaara just shook his head slightly, telling her he did not know.

"Oh… well… why is he in my head…?"

Her reply was just the shaking of his head.

'**Lies,'** a voice growled in his head.

"Why can't I hear your thoughts?" The kunoichi asked bluntly, frustration written clear as day on her face.

Gaara pondered this, "I believe it is because you are incapable of understanding them, not hearing necessarily."

She felt her brow twitch, was that a shot at her intelligence? Sighing, Sakura decided now was not the time to get pissed off pointlessly. "How can I learn to understand them?"

Sakura received a slightly surprised look, "What?"

"Wouldn't hearing my thoughts, the demon … unnerve you?" _'It would certainly unnerve me with her knowing.'_ …Understatement.

"No not really."

Gaara's face snapped violently to her and he stared at her with narrowed eyes. "Stop," he snarled, she stared at him questioningly "stop, damn you woman."

Blinking, Sakura asked, "Stop… what exactly, Gaara?"

He suddenly stood up, grabbing her arm roughly as he did so. "Stop acting like it doesn't bother you! I've been inside your mind for fucks sake! I know it does!"

"You're right…" she whispered, her demeanor suddenly changing, "but I want to try and understand, Gaara! I want to understand… it… him…"

Slamming her back against the wall, "If you care about the life you are living at all, you will distance yourself and interest from **him**." He snarled then suddenly stalked out the door. She stared, wide eyed, at the spot where he had just been standing. What had made him so angry?

Separating her self from the sudden fear that washed over her as she remembered just how dangerous and unstable the shinobi she had grown so comfortable with was, Sakura ran after him. As she followed him in silence, they walked down the hall and she, trying to distract herself, glanced around for the other three… where were they?

As they walked past the nurses, they saw she was with the Kazekage, bowed to him, and allowed her to leave (the glare sent by the maroon haired Kage helped a bit in that decision, too.)

Soon realizing they were in route back to his house, she relaxed a bit, though still keeping a distance behind him, not minding the silence.

…

As for the rest of the Sand Siblings, plus Naruto, they had been informed of Sakura and Gaara's departure from the hospital. Naruto wanted to go see her straight away, but somehow Arina had convinced Naruto to eat lunch before hand (the fact that she had used one of her mind jutsu was irrelevant… simply a technicality.)

She also took him shopping for ramen, trying to buy more time for Gaara and Sakura, and sent Kankurou off for his "doll parts" as she called them and Temari for whatever it was that the psycho blonde needed.

…

Upon entering the Kazekage's mansion, the silence continued, until Sakura sighed and paused in the doorway of the kitchen, catching Gaara's attention.

"Gaara…"

He looked up, soon wishing he hadn't. Beautifully striking jade eyes locked onto his, her head tilted as she stood unsurely with her arms at her sides.

Gaara snarled as he felt pressure against his mind. Though it wasn't physical, it felt somewhat like there was a force squeezing his mind. His body stiffened to the point of pain and he cringed as his knees gave out.

Sakura was worse for wear. Her body was freezing and her normally large amount of chakra rapidly decreased and she staggered backwards, slamming her back against the wall. After moments of an agonizing migrate, she slid down the wall.

Her head fell against the wall with a dull thud and Gaara lifted his head to look at her.

"You need rest," he breathed, "Go to sleep."

Sakura just frowned, remembering his earlier anger and not wanting to go anything to set him off again, and complied. She staggered up the stairs and into her room, knowing fully well sleep wasn't something that was going to come- nor did she want it to.

…

When her bed room door busted open, she was positive it was going to be a certain Kazekage, pissed that she was still attempting to interpret his thoughts.

"Sakura-chan!" She was squeezed to the point of blunt physical pain, along with a strange, dull throbbing in her head. "You are okay!"

Another pair of arms squeezed her, "you really worried me you pink headed spastic ditz!"

"I'm sorry, before next time something totally out of my control happens to me, I'll be sure to consult you first." Sakura laughed as she was released from the two blonde's hugs.

"Good to know you aren't anymore psycho than we already knew, Pinky."

Apparently, Arina hadn't told them yet…

"Gee thanks Kankurou," she replied dryly.

…

Something panged inside his head, like a bell being hit with an aluminum bat. Gripping his head, Gaara gritted his teeth in pain. It was different from Shukaku, but had the same feeling of infiltration. He felt it resembled the pressure from earlier with Sakura in the kitchen… but now he also felt coldness creeping around his body until it had engulfed his senses.

It continued for many moments until it suddenly stopped.

'_What the hell?!'_

'…_Gaara…'_

His eyes widened, Sakura! Had she…

'_Oh… Gaara…'_

By the pained sound of her thoughts… she had.

Could he be anymore royally fucked?

_Should I really show my feelings inside?  
Everyday, its getting' harder to hid._

...

Later that night, Sakura found him on the roof, sitting with his right leg sprawled out and his left one bent, his right arm resting on it and leaning on his left. The cold, chilling wind blew and she crossed her arms over her chest, rubbing up and down her forearms.

Unsure, the medic stood silently, shifting from foot to foot, behind him. She preoccupied herself for those couple of moments with rubbing her arms and brushing stray strands of hair from her face.

"You can understand my thoughts now."

Silently, Sakura walked forward and sat down next to him, not realizing the distance was that of only about a half a foot, looking at his expression openly, "Yes."

Still not looking at her, he continued, "You are in my head now."

Gaara finally turned to her, those sharp black outlines sea foam eyes pinning her. After studying her for a moment, he leaned towards her, as if getting closer would help him understand what emotion was playing on her face, under the surprise. His right hand left his leg and he was now leaning on it as he moved towards her.

"And… you can feel that I…"

Swallowing, she nodded, not withdrawing from his advance, "Yes."

"And still you don't run…"

In the trance staring at his eyes put her in, she needlessly replied, "Yes"

It was silent for a while and Sakura finally broke her eye contact, looking everywhere but at the shinobi staring at her, silent as death. It was awkward; the tension in the air could be cut with a knife. She looked down and noticed his pale hand was covered in goose bumps, much like hers, which sat next to his between them.

"You're cold," She stated, deciding to ignore everything but his hand, though not looking up at him but instead at their hands, "And no sand shield?"

Gaara spared a glance at his hand, already knowing her hand was next to his, noticing her hand also covered in goose bumps, "Hn. You're cold too. Why aren't you asleep?"

She smiled tiredly at him, "You didn't answer my question."

"Nor did you mine."

Sighing, Sakura brought her knees to her chest and hugged them with one arm, leaving her other hand to continue resting besides his. "I couldn't sleep."

Gaara turned his head back towards the sky, though he didn't return to his original sitting position, "Shukaku doesn't feel the need to protect me fully right now."

"What I'm no threat?" The medic asked jokingly, glad for the opportunity to lift the silence.

Glancing at her from the corner of his eye, he replied, "No," she pouted slightly, not conscience of it, "For some odd reason, the demon trusts you."

"What makes that so odd?"

He didn't reply.

So much for finally understanding his thoughts too…

After a couple moments of more silence, Sakura sighed, catching his attention again, "I seriously want to know why that is so odd, Gaara."

Gaara turned his head toward her ever so slightly, "You are dangerous."

"Sure, so I lose my temper sometimes, I don't see-,"

"No," the faded-redhead interrupted, "That's not what I meant… You are dangerous because of what you control."

After a couple moments of contemplating, Sakura decided that for now not knowing what the hell he was talking about was the best way to go about things. In this way, she didn't have to act immediately on his thoughts, thus giving her more thinking time.

Time in which was abruptly cut short by a fine bladed knife within that same moment, caused by an action so insignificant the normal person would ignore, or dully note, had they been anyone but the Kazekage next to her.

The wind blew, damn the wind, and the medic shivered. The shudder racked the kunoichi's body, shaking her for only a moment until she stilled. In that moment of trembling in the bone chilling air, her hand brushed against his.

After all that had happened that morning, what caused Gaara to react the way he did neither of them would ever know.

Gripping her hand, the maroon haired shinobi tugged it forcefully, successfully making Sakura fall from her position with her knees bent out in front of her to landing on her hip unsteadily with her knees resting against his thigh, overlapping it slightly.

He found himself leaning in more, then pausing, not knowing what the hell came after that.

She smiled softly; obviously amused the high and mighty Gaara walked himself into an awkward position. Taking mercy on him, she leaned the rest of the way in, tilting her head slightly to the right, and paused an inch before him. They just stared at each other for moments as Gaara figured out what he wanted to do and Sakura gave him time to do so. Though, as if the deities above enjoyed his misery like sweet god damn nectar, as soon as he had figured out just what that was, the wind blew again.

The pink headed teen shuddered once again, pulling away from him slightly to wrap her arms around her self. Gaara found his arm, his betraying arm, snaking around the kunoichi's shoulders. Jade eyes glanced up at him, and then crinkled at the edges as she smiled soundlessly at him. In turn, sea foam eyes widened as her arms slid around his waist and she curled up at his side. Her head leaning on Gaara's chest with her arms around him, Sakura peered through her bangs at his face, which was tilted up towards the sky, but when sensing her gaze turned back towards her.

They exchanged a silent, though painstakingly simple and lacking of detail, conversation. Fuck everything else, and figure it out in the morning… or perhaps next week. Whichever was more comfortable, and considering how comfortable the ignorance is bliss concept they currently had going on was, figuring out the situation wouldn't happen for a while.

_I imagine life with her by my side but,  
Should I tell her..._

It wasn't exactly either of their plans, but it worked out wonderfully none the less.

The cold didn't really affect them for that moment, and the following after that.

_**Go forth and review.**_


	9. Chapter 9:In Gaara's Eyes

**(Insert excuse for no update here)**

_Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I really want you to know I appreciate it and I'm sorry if I didn't respond to your last one. I always like to thank you for reading, reviewing, story alerting, or favoring but sometimes I don't have the time when I get the review, story alert, ect. So I forget when I do have the time. So sorry._

Good songs besides Should I Tell Her to listen to on repeat while reading this chapter are:

Right Here in my Arms- H.I.M

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own Should I Tell Her. All I own is Arina and that bug that just died on the floor… okay so I don't own it but really who will stop me? 

Should Tell Her?

Chapter 9

_It wasn't exactly either of their plans, but it worked out wonderfully none the less._

_The cold didn't really affect them for that moment, and the following after that._

**Gaara's P.O.V**

As Sakura woke up, I instinctively closed my eyes, pretending to meditate. I had been _trying _to meditate all night, but had not succeeded due to the distraction of the sleeping kunoichi herself. Though, truthfully as I never saw the point of lying, I really just wanted her to stay there. No reason to upset her when she seemed so comfortable… Hn, the truth… perhaps the other part of the truth was just a technicality, so insignificant it deemed no importance. Yes, a technicality.

She stiffened as thoughts began to race through her mind, those thoughts I could hear. Wondering "who the hell" she was "lying on," Sakura took to breathing steadily to calm herself. I felt her raise her head slightly and, I figure as she saw my hair as I was the only one in Suna with such color hair, she thought, "_Sweet Kami… Gaara?!_"

Sakura was realizing our position and finding it upsetting. It panicked her somehow. I suppose I should have figured and it bothered me how I was so optimistic.

Some say the best way to go about life is to lower one's expectations, to self one's self up for disappointment. I, personally, take on an altered version of that. I set myself up for the worst possible catastrophe, which normally involves Shukaku massacring or my scaring someone I **learn to trust** away.

Why couldn't I just have **fucking done that** and left the girl to sleep and gone home?! In such thoughts, a bomb could have hit and I am sure I would not even have fucking noticed.

Thus, I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt her hand brushing on my neck. My being hyper-aware of her constantly did not help. Finding my resolve, to stay as still as possible, I was a bit more composed as she slid her hand up to my jaw.

When she paused under my lips, I wracked her minds for the thoughts that had occurred moments before, the ones I had missed because she **distracted** me, even when unconscious of it.

Hn… so Sakura thought I was sleeping. Her mind was probably still fuzzy (as Arina had told me about waking from sleep) from just awakening. She was testing me, seeing how she had to move in order to get out of our position without "waking" me.

My thoughts were cut short, once again, as her fingers traced up my face. I felt them on my forehead and then her palm on the kanji. Feeling it seemed to unnerve her as she swiftly proceeded into my hair.

Her fingers running through my hair pushed so many reactions for me I could not count them. Human instincts, the very things only few years ago I thought were so easily discarded. But now, when she was here, touching me, seemingly so unafraid and vulnerable, how was I to deny them?

There had to be some logical way to evade the sigh from rise from my chest and passed my lips, to avoid constricting my arms and crushing her fragile body against me, and, inevitably, to _not scare her away_.

Skilled fingers pressing into the back of my scalp rhythmically and I could not stop the hitched breath that escaped my lips. When I didn't move thereafter, Sakura's hand continued to tangle in the hair at the top of my head, and now I could tell she was simply playing with it.

For the second time, when her hand made contact with my face, I nearly jumped out of my flesh. The second hand on my face, in addition to the one in my hair, made it difficult to keep those damn human instincts at way. I felt her chest and torso press against my own as she leaned on me and her soft hand hovering near my closed eyes as her fingers traced them. The dull ache in my ribcage alerted me of something I had over looked before. A human instinct, my increased heart rate. Though, looking in her thoughts for a brief moment, I saw that she had not noticed. This didn't stop me from hoping she hadn't, which was immensely illogical, but I simply couldn't think logically at the moment. I had heard something in the brief second I peeked into her mind, something about "gorgeous sea foam eyes." I really didn't know what the hell to think. I didn't notice when her face had, along with the rest of her body, initially started leaning towards me.

The only thing I noticed was when her nose brushed against mine. Then, I stiffened and my breath checked and she realized that I didn't sleep.

Sakura jerked away and fell off my lap, in which landing had her at the very edge of the hospital bed with only her legs sprawled on my lap. I snapped my eyes open to look at her. She began to scramble ungracefully and I felt the compulsion to keep her from falling off the bed and possibly causing a concussion. I slipped my hand onto her back, my other on her arm, and tugged her forcefully (maybe a little unnecessarily so) back near me.

I openly stared at her, listening to her thoughts silently.

Her thoughts wondered to the aforementioned "beautiful eyes" before stopping short with a mental growl of "_Damn it, no!_"

They then continued to switch focus to our position of her straddling my lap, also the fact that I seemed to be unmoving and staring at her. She thought about her hyper-aware senses, then "Son of a bitch, no!" My eyes widened as I let my curious and confused emotions play on my face.

I felt my lips quirk against own accord (and perhaps some of Shukaku's) as she thought about ripping my eyes out.

A noise that greatly resembled a growl slipped from her lips from deep within her delicate throat. It was then that the smirk that threatened to form did in fact form. It was also then that she lunged at me.

I somehow landed on my back, off the bed and on the floor, with Sakura, who somehow managed to pin my shoulders down, on top of me. The sand whipped around, fluttering anxiously as it went against instinct to fling her across the room, hell across the desert, when I commanded it not to touch her.

Suddenly, a victorious grinned stretched on Sakura's face.

It was then I decided to, as Naruto would say, say "Fuck it." Like hell was I letting her win.

Irrational, illogical, with no real reason at all, but a human instinct. My (presumably male or perhaps just shinobi) instincts kicked in, refusing to let the deviant little angel above me win.

I suppose using my sand was what they would call "cheating" but when I found myself pining the surprised little angel down, I really did not give a damn.

And I also supposed using my advantages of hearing her thoughts was cheating too. Though, seeing her hair fanned out, the frustrated look on her face, and her jutted lip pleasured me a bit too much, I could not bring myself to care. Just a technicality I suppose.

And perhaps leaning down to her, telling her I could in fact hear her thoughts as she thought it was unnecessary, but like I said, just technicalities. Irrelevant facts easily over looked.

Sakura stared at me with wide eyes, and I, using much more will power than should have been required, climbed off of her. "Shukaku linked our minds, and I can hear your thoughts." I explained, carefully gauging her reaction.

After a blank look of realization, she growled, "You bastard," anger, obviously, as I had figured since- "Why can you hear my thoughts but I can't hear yours? That's so not fair."

Wait… what the hell?

I stared at her, trying to figure her out.

Sakura, to a stranger, seemed like such an open book. And maybe in some aspects she was. But not right now.

She got irritated with my silence and asked, with none too delicacy, "What damn it?"

"I tell you there is a demon inside your mind that is linking our thoughts and your concern is why you can't hear my thoughts?" I asked, allowing my disbelief to show to her plainly.

The idea frustrated me.

Could she at least make it _hard _for me want her the way I do? Could she at least _pretend_ to hate me, to fear me, me and the demon?

After she mentioned her "super sensitivity" I was suspicious. Could the bijuu share our thoughts between us as well as his heightened senses? I asked, and then made when she failed to do so, (something that unnerved me while she explained was my distraction with her facial features,) her to elaborate. What she said confirmed my suspicions (though, admittedly, the way she said it caused a strange sensation in my abdomen.)

Shukaku, the smart bastard, had somehow found a sort of loop hole. What the hell. Just when I thought keeping Sakura in the dark was going so damn well and by the end of her stay I would not have disrupted her life, I get screwed over.

For one of the first times in my life, I was attempting to do something noble for another human being and I get kicked in the ass. That is just how my life works.

I then explained what I had realized as she shifted uncomfortably. Had I been staring at her?

She began her questioning and I resolved not to tell her anything. Anything I may have said may have led to my eventual down fall so I opted for the ignorance is bliss method. She was too damn smart for her own well being.

Sakura then asked an interesting question.

Just _why_ _couldn't_ she hear my thoughts?

Perhaps it was because I was hearing the voice of another being my entire life, so I was used to interpreting my thoughts from another's. Maybe, since I am the Ichibi's host, my side of the bond is stronger so I am capable of getting a clearer view of her thoughts.

I voiced, in summary, my possible conclusions.

Again, I was surprised when she asked me what she could do to understand them. She… wanted to hear my thoughts? She wanted to hear the demon? Was she really not afraid? Sakura responded to, "Wouldn't hear my thoughts, the demon … unnerve you?" as "No not really."

This angered me suddenly. I snapped my eyes back to her.

Why did she have to make this so damn hard?!

She didn't fear him? Impossible, she had to be lying to avoid insulting me. Didn't she see she wasn't making it any easier for me by doing that?

"Stop, stop, damn you woman."

She looked surprised, "Stop… what exactly, Gaara?"

I felt something inside me crack, it didn't snap quite yet, but it was close, "Stop acting like it doesn't bother you! I've been inside your mind for fucks sake! I know it does!" I stood sharply, dragging her with me by her arm.

Her face then took to a very submissive look. "You're right… but I want to try and understand, Gaara! I want to understand… it… him…"

I saw red. Understand? Hah, now I **knew** there was something wrong here. Understand a demon! For someone so smart she was so incredibly naïve. Did she really think she wanted to understand it? Would she want to "understand" if she knew what he was thinking of? No, she'd flee. She'd be gone, running away. The red brightened.

Violently slamming her against the wall, I snarled, "If you care about the life you are living at all, you will distance yourself and interest from **him**." The red faded and before I hurt her further, I spun on my heel and fled the room.

I heard her fast paced footsteps behind me and couldn't help feeling overwhelming relief, even though I had heard her decision to follow me.

The nurses didn't try to stop her as she followed me out of the hospital. But really, who would?

Although I was very much opposed to using my rank to intimidate those around me, I was glad I could get her, and myself, out of the hospital without objection. I suppose my reputation also helped sway any decision to try and stop me. I used to use fear as a reign to control the people around me, now when they did so on their own, it kind of pissed me off. Not at this moment though, now I was more than glad for their fear.

* * *

After a silent walk, we arrived back at my home. As I walked through the door of the kitchen, I heard Sakura call to me. I turned to look towards her and I found myself locked. She stood so vulnerable staring at me incredulously with her jade eyes--- it was then I felt the pressure in my head.

I snarled. It was that same kind of squeezing of my brain and mind that Shukaku brought when he was experiencing an unusually strong emotion. I grimaced and felt my knees go numb. Ah fuck. They gave out and I tumbled helplessly to the floor.

Squinting my eyes, I noticed Sakura. Her milky skin was unusually pale and I felt her familiar chakra begin to disappear. When she staggered back ungracefully into the wall, I knew exactly what had happened to her. She slid down the wall and slumped over.

"You need rest, go to sleep." I uttered seriously, lifting my head to stare at her evenly. To my surprised delight, she complied, albeit shakily.

* * *

I recognized a dull throb in my head and then heard as Kankurou, Temari, and Naruto busted into Sakura's room just down the hall from my own.

I blamed my headache on them… idiots.

Then, all of the sudden, it felt as if a spiked metal ball has just hit me square in the head. I felt as if I wasn't the only one in my mind, but Shukaku had been surprisingly dormant and Arina normally speaks up as she enters my mind—and she doesn't cause such _pain_. It was actually starting to burn as I tried to conduct rational thought. With a jolt I realized the similarities of this feeling to that of the feeling in the kitchen…earlier… with Sakura… what happened there again? The coldness surged me and I finally understood just what the hell was going on.

'…_Gaara…'_

Sakura… had she…? …Oh **hell.**

'…_Oh, Gaara…'_

Mother fucker… she had…

'_**Shit.'**_ I thought cynically, _'I'm fucked.'_

I looked down at the book in front of me, ache residing, though a new one was emerging. I tried to ignore everything but the book.

While I was in the hospital with Sakura, Arina was looking for a change of Sakura's clothes and had come across my missing book. The inside cover read 'Property of the Hokage Library' and a note signed by Tsunadae to Sakura inside of it. Tsunadae lent it to Sakura for its partial information of Medical Jutsu on her trip here to Suna—as it could be a powerful tool. The note mentioned nothing of the decoding section.

It just so happened to be my missing book, in the library of another Kage as some sets seemed to be as during war scrolls and books scattered in the mess. But in Konoha? Then here, with Sakura? And all that Shukaku said about demons and their mates…

And I still didn't know where the book on my bed came from.

Ah hell. Irony sucked. Clichés sucked. It all just sucked right then.

As it seemed I couldn't keep focus on the task at hand, I transported to the roof, where the sun was beginning to set. I sat unmoving with my right leg sprawled out and my left one bent, my right arm resting on it and leaning on my left for a while without interruptions…

* * *

Without interruptions until later that night, when the stars had been twinkling in the sky for some time, I sensed her presence. I opted not to move or acknowledge her—hopefully prolonging destruction. After minutes of silence, my resolve crumbled and I was met with instinct.

"You can understand my thoughts now." I said and soon after realized my statement's pointlessness. I already _knew_ the answer to that. She sat by my side, her proximity almost alarming, but I didn't show I noticed. I sensed her stare, but ignored it.

"Yes," she replied quietly.

Still not looking at her, I continued, "You are in my head now." I then finally turned to her, the arm that was on my leg moving to support myself in between us as I moved. Her lips were parted with her response that never had the chance to exit her mouth and I pinned her with my stare. I must have been unnerving as I just stared at her. Leaning forward, I tried to understand her expression. Surprise? Bewilderment? Was there _any_ fear?

I stumbled on what to say next, and my question came out as an unintelligent slur of words, "And… you can feel that I…"

She replied just as quietly, still returning my stare, "yes…"

"And still you don't run…" I whispered, more to myself, half in bewilderment half in disbelief, but she replied with her whispery "yes" anyway.

After a few moments, she broke away from my stare. Her posture became awkward and she looked everywhere but me—mostly at the sky. Sakura then looked down at our hands, which were next to each other in the bit of space between where each of us sat.

"You're cold," she murmured, keeping her stare at our hands, "And no sand shield?"

I spared a glance at my hand, as I already knew her hand was next to mine, with doing so noticing her hand also covered in goose bumps, "Hn. You're cold too. Why aren't you asleep?"

She smiled in that tired sort of way that she did when I was being particularly difficult- like right then, although the expression was a sincere smile, anything less would create tarnish to her features, "You didn't answer my question."

"Nor did you mine." I admit I was being especially difficult, and I knew then too not just by her mentally tired expression, but I didn't care. In doing so I avoided more awkwardness.

Sighing, Sakura brought her knees to her chest and hugged them with one arm, leaving her other hand to continue resting besides mine still. "I couldn't sleep."

I moved my gaze back to the sky, but didn't bother moving back to my previous position. I decided then to answer her earlier question, as she had answered mine, "Shukaku doesn't feel the need to protect me fully right now."

"What I'm no threat?" She asked jokingly, I suppose with her generally cheerful exterior she felt comfortable and was glad for the opportunity to lift the silence.

Glancing at her from the corner of my eye, sensing her joking demeanor, I replied, "No," she pouted slightly- not conscience of it- I noticed, "For some odd reason, the demon trusts you."

"What makes that so odd?"

I opted for no reply.

After some moments, I sensed her frustration. She asked again, more seriously. I didn't have much of an option to reply this time.

I inclined my head in her direction, trying to think of a way to put it, "You are dangerous." I said simply, hoping she wouldn't inquire more.

Never did I possess what one would call "luck" in such matters that involved other people.

Her brow furrowed, narrowing pink brows and wrinkling cream skin, "Sure, so I lose my temper sometimes, I don't see-,"

"No," I interrupted impatiently, "That's not what I meant… You are dangerous because of what you control."

To this she had no reply and we sat in blissful silence for moments on. That is, of course, until a chilling breeze swept over both of us. She shivered violently, wracking her body and causing her hand to brush against my own.

After all that had happened that morning, what caused me to react the way I did I will never know.

Gripping her hand, I tugged it forcefully, successfully making Sakura fall from her position with her knees bent out in front of her to landing on her hip unsteadily with her knees resting against my thigh, overlapping it slightly.

I found myself leaning in more, then pausing, not knowing what the hell came after that.

Why the hell was she smiling?

After that morning, I couldn't imagine why this physical contact shocked me so much. It seemed logical that I would have been even slightly accustomed to her small, soft, warmth against me.

Logic was- yet another thing- that seemed to evade me lately.

I sat there, still as stone.

Attempting to remember when I felt this clueless was a failure. I do not think I had ever felt more clueless and helpless in my life.

Personally, I felt content with just the sight Sakura. I did not mind just staring at her in that moment, but she seemed to be waiting for me to do something. I could not figure out what it was. Still with her curved pale lips, she tilted her head.

The action made her look slightly vulnerable and inquisitive, but it still seemed as if she was waiting for something from me.

I studied everything about her face. Jade eyes stared patiently, yet hopefully, at me. The ends of her short, pink hair blew against her jaw and over her cheeks with the breeze. Sakura's pale lips were parted slightly, allowing air in and out easily… but maybe there was more than that. A "ton of bricks" would not adequately describe the way in which the realization hit me.

I had seen it, heard about it, but never fully understood it.

Was it possible she wanted me to kiss her? …No…never… but then, I remembered, I could simply look into her mind and find out.

Just as I had this realization, wind gusted by once more, causing her to shiver and withdraw. I felt a tiny pang of what I thought was called regret for the first time ever, presumably for my social ignorance.

Against my will, I found my arm snaking around her small shoulders. Those same inquisitive eyes stared up at me. Then, as if I had just complimented her with the highest regards, she smiled.

As I felt her arms slide around my torso, my own eyes widened. Sakura curled up against my side with her head resting against my chest. I felt my gaze automatically turn toward the sky once more, only to return to her face as I sensed her glance. She stared up at me through her pink bangs.

Before, Sakura had looked like she wanted answers, those which I could not give. Just then, I felt as if we were both thinking the same thing: Fuck everything else.

I knew I'd have to deal with my moment if weakness the following day, but for just then I'd enjoy my time with her.

_I imagine life with her by my side but,  
Should I tell her..._

**_Go forth and Review. _**


	10. Author's Note: Please Read

**Author's Note **

_Hey Everyone,_

_I am __**not**__, I repeat, __**not**__ writing this because I'm discontinuing the story. Quite the opposite actually…_

_I really do want to continue writing for this story but to do that I've realized I need to have something of __**quality**__to begin with. I've decided to go back and revise, rewrite, and revamp all the chapters of __Should I Tell Her__ (similar to what I'm doing with my Teen Titans fanfiction, __Fake Left Break Right__)._

_I feel that everyone that has read this story in the (sad, pathetic) way it is currently written deserves a thoroughly well-written story, and now that I have the ability to deliver such a thing, I am more than happy to deliver it as such._

_I'll be replacing chapters with the newly written ones as I finish them. I can't promise the process will be quick, but hey, better than nothing, right? I'm currently working on Chapter 1, and it will be up soon ;)_

**Thanks so much, and happy rereading!**


End file.
